ProShares Trust - ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF

ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF

ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF is an exchange-traded fund incorporated in the USA. The ETF seeks capital appreciation. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. The Fund does not invest directly in bitcoin. The Fund seeks to provide capital appreciation primarily through actively managed exposure to bitcoin futures contracts.

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($BITO) is the first bitcoin futures ETF to trade on a major U.S. exchange.

Since it's a futures ETF, the fund holds futures contracts for bitcoin assets but does not hold bitcoin itself. Futures-based ETFs can be riskier than traditional ETFs, per the SEC.

Bitcoin ETFs allow investors to invest in the future of this cryptocurrency without investing directly. Proponents of bitcoin ETFs say that this broadens access to bitcoin to larger groups of investors who may not want to invest in bitcoin directly. 

One important consideration is that ETFs often come with management fees, and the approved Bitcoin Strategy ETF is no different, with a listed management fee of 0.95%.

The fact that the first bitcoin ETF is a futures ETF is important. There is a cost associated with “rolling” futures contracts and this means that a bitcoin futures ETF will not perfectly track the spot price of bitcoin.

Individual investors can already invest in bitcoin and as many as 13% of Americans have invested in crypto so far in 2021 according to one University of Chicago study.

In order for an ETF to become available to investors, it must be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

BITO saw about $1 billion of trading volume on its first day of trading, making it the second-most heavily traded ETF debut on record.

More than 24 million shares changed hands during its first trading day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg
Public.com/learn
University of Chicago