Vaneck Bitcoin Futures ETF Gets Green Light from SEC — Fund to Join Proshares BTC ETF Listing on NYSE

The wealth manager Vaneck will be launching its bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States following the Proshares ETF listing that launched on Tuesday. According to the post-effective filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Vaneck bitcoin futures ETF launch is approved to be listed after October 23.

Vaneck’s Bitcoin Futures ETF Is the Second US Fund to Get Approval From Regulators

This week, the Proshares Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (BITO) launched with a lot of fanfare and the ETFs volume broke records on Tuesday. The following day, bitcoin (BTC) spot markets smashed an all-time price (ATH) at $67,017 per unit. Additionally, the wealth manager Vaneck published its bitcoin futures ETF post-effective filing on Wednesday which indicates that the SEC has green-lighted the listing on NYSE Arca.

The Vaneck Bitcoin Strategy ETF’s ticker will be “XBTF” and the fund leverages cash-settled bitcoin futures contracts. The Vaneck ETF summary details that the fund “does not invest in bitcoin or other digital assets directly.” After the post-effective filing was published, Nate Geraci, the co-founder of The ETF Institute tweeted about the approval. “Vaneck [is] joining the bitcoin futures ETF party next week,” Geraci said.

The Vaneck approval follows the phenomenal market performance Proshares Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (BITO) saw on Tuesday. Eric Balchunas, the senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg explained on Wednesday that BITO is already “in the top 30% of ETFs by assets and a near-lock to exceed my $750m by end-of-week estimate.”

Vaneck’s Decision to Apply for Bitcoin Futures ETF Followed Gary Gensler’s statements Concerning Futures-Based Funds

Vaneck decided to apply for the Bitcoin Strategy ETF on August 10, following SEC chairman Gary Gensler’s statements that week. At that time, Gensler said he looks forward to regulators reviewing ETFs that are particularly associated with bitcoin futures, he mentioned the U.S. Investment Company Act of 1940 as possibly being sufficient enough for regulation.

Gary Gensler also spoke about the approval of the Proshares bitcoin ETF during an interview with CNBC Tuesday and he said: “Bitcoin futures have been overseen by our sibling agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC], which I was once honored and proud to serve there and that’s been four years.”

The Proshares and Vaneck bitcoin futures ETF approvals mark a milestone for bitcoin-related exchange-traded funds in the United States. For the first time, U.S. investors can participate in an ETF that has some ties to the leading crypto asset bitcoin (BTC).

The U.S., however, is not the first North American ETFs to be approved as Canada has approved a few bitcoin-related ETFs during the last 12 months. While October 23 is a Saturday, the community expects the Vaneck bitcoin futures ETF to list the following Monday on October 25.