A new mutual fund is set to allow investors to gain exposure to the flagship cryptocurrency bitcoin without buying BTC through an exchange or managing any private or public keys to manage their coins.
ProFunds has announced in a press release the launch of the Bitcoin Strategy ProFund, a publicly available bitcoin mutual fund in the United States that invests in bitcoin futures contracts. While the fund does not invest in BTC directly, it aims to track the price performance of bitcoin before fees and expenses.
In the release, the firm noted that the new fund eliminates the need for investors to buy bitcoin on exchanges or hold their BTC in wallets, and instead makes it convenient to diversify portfolios with exposure to the cryptocurrency.
The company’s CEO Michael L. Sapir was quoted saying:
Compared to directly buying Bitcoin, which may involve opening a new account with an unregulated party, this ProFund offers investors the opportunity to gain exposure to Bitcoin through a form and investment method that tens of millions of investors are familiar with.
The launch comes at a time in which dozens of investment firms have filed to launch exchange-traded funds tied to Bitcoin, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission delaying decisions on these for as long as it can.
While buying bitcoin has become easier over the last few years as apps like Revolut, Robinhood, PayPal, and the Cash App started offering BTC to their users, Bloomberg notes some retail investors and institutions want products with more regulatory oversight.
The ProFunds bitcoin fund has a total expense ratio of 1.15%.
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The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.
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