ProShares to launch the world's first Bitcoin-linked ETF

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ProShares to launch the world's first Bitcoin-linked ETF

ProShares will make history with the first futures Bitcoin ETF which makes its New York Stock Exchange debut on Tuesday under the ticker symbol BITO.

The announcement has sent the price of Bitcoin to around $61,000 per coin, and is inching closer towards its all-time high of $64,888. In April, coin prices hit 99 in April, according to CoinDesk's real-time price tracking. Bitcoin, which has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion as of the time of publication, is approximately up 110% year-to-date.

Rather than investing directly in Bitcoin, the ProShares Bitcoin strategy ETF will offer investors the ability to gain exposure to returns of the world's largest cryptocurrency by investing in bitcoin futures contracts through a brokerage account.

After years of hard work to launch a Bitcoin-linked ETF, we believe a multitude of investors have been eagerly anticipating the launch of a Bitcoin-linked ETF, ProShares CEO Michael Sapir said in a statement. BITO will open up exposure to bitcoin to a large segment of investors who have a brokerage account and are comfortable buying stocks and ETFs, but do not desire to go through the hassle and learning curve of making a bitcoin wallet and becoming a Bitcoin provider. ProShares, which now offers one of the largest lineups of exchange traded funds, jumped into the ETF market in 2006. ProShares and its affiliates manage more than $65 billion in assets. In July, ProShare affiliate ProFunds launched the first bitcoin mutual fund in the United States.

In addition to ProShares’ ETF, Volt Equity has won Securities and Exchange Commission approval for the Bitcoin-focused Volt Crypto Industry Revolution and Tech ETF, which invests at least 80% of its net assets in Bitcoin Industry Revolution companies defined as those that hold a majority of their net assets in the world's largest cryptocurrency or derive a majority of their revenue or profits directly from bitcoin mining, lending, or transacting.

Earlier this year, listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BITQ and offers investors exposure to publicly traded companies in the current growing range according to Bitwise Asset Management which manages over $1.5 billion in assets.

Meanwhile, other companies that are currently awaiting the review by the SEC on their submitted Bitcoin ETF applications this month include Invesco and Valkyrie.