On Tuesday, Proshares introduced two new offerings: the Ultra Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, sporting the ticker BITU, and the Ultrashort Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), known as SBIT. While BITU is designed to deliver two times the daily returns of bitcoin, SBIT is structured to produce double the inverse of bitcoin’s daily returns.

Proshares Introduces Leveraged and Inverse Bitcoin ETFs

This week, Proshares revealed two newly introduced bitcoin funds, known as the Ultra Bitcoin ETF (BITU) and the Ultrashort Bitcoin ETF (SBIT). BITU sets its sights on delivering twice the daily returns of bitcoin, whereas SBIT seeks to provide twice the inverse of bitcoin’s daily returns. These introductions mark the first debut of such BTC-focused ETFs in the U.S. exchange-traded product arena.

Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas discussed the launch on Tuesday via the social media platform X. “The first ever 2x and -2x spot bitcoin ETFs hit the market today from Proshares,” Balchunas wrote. “BITU and SBIT (tickers could have been better). BITX is 2x but it tracks futures and BITI is -1x but is also futures. Fee 95bps on both. Haven’t traded too much so far, under $1m,” the analyst added.

Proshares led the way with the debut of the first BTC-focused exchange-traded fund in October 2021, utilizing futures contracts rather than operating as a spot BTC ETF. Following this inaugural launch, Proshares rolled out a series of U.S.-based ETFs including a short bitcoin-linked ETF (BITI), a short ether-linked ETF (SETH), an ETF targeting ethereum’s performance (EETH), and a combined bitcoin and ethereum ETF named BETE. Unlike spot ETFs, none of the aforementioned funds employ crypto reserves.

“BITU and SBIT are designed to address the challenge of acquiring leveraged or short exposure to bitcoin, which can be onerous and expensive,” Proshares CEO Michael L. Sapir remarked on Tuesday. “BITU offers investors the opportunity to pursue magnified bitcoin returns or target a level of exposure with less money at risk. SBIT allows investors to seek to profit when the price of bitcoin drops or hedge their bitcoin exposure.”

Source : Bitcoin News by Jamie Redman / Apr 3, 2024