The first bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed in the United States, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, has generated a trading volume of over $500 million in its first trading hour, making it one of the top ETFs by trading volume on launch day.
According to available data the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange today, has already seen 14.9 million shares change hands since listing, has already reached a $42.149 high and a $40.07 low.
Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has pointed out on social media that in the first 20 minutes after being listed the ETF, under the ticker BITO, traded $280 million worth of shares, putting in the “top 15 opening day launches of all-time,” surpassing ETFs tracking the price of gold and the Nasdaq index.
The analyst pointed out that it’s unclear how much of the bitcoin futures ETFs trading volume was natural and how much was from traders making a profit on the opening day’s volatility.
When ProShares confirmed the ETF was being listed, its CEO Michael L. Sapir said the firm believes “a multitude of investors have been eagerly awaiting the launch of a bitcoin-linked ETF after years of efforts to launch one,”
Other bitcoin futures ETF applications are hoping to move forward with trading this month, so a second futures-based bitcoin ETF could launch in the near future. A bitcoin ETF being approved in the U.S. is the culmination of a nearly decade-long campaign to list such a product.
Crypto advocates have been looking to list an ETF ever since Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the founder of the Gemini exchange, filed the first Bitcoin ETF application in 2013. Bitcoin’s price has moved up significantly on the ETF listing expectations and is now trading close to $63,500.
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