ProShares Bitcoin ETF to debut on NYSE on Oct. 19

The first Bitcoin (BTC) futures-linked exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF, will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Oct. 19 under the ticker BITO.

ProShares CEO Michael Sapir said the launch marks an important milestone for cryptocurrency ETFs in the United States following several years of effort to list one on an exchange:

“BITO will continue the legacy of ETFs that provide investors convenient, liquid access to an asset class. 1993 is remembered for the first equity ETF, 2002 for the first bond ETF, and 2004 for the first gold ETF. 2021 will be remembered for the first cryptocurrency-linked ETF.”

Sapir went on to say that the Bitcoin ETF’s debut on NYSE unlocks massive exposure for investors in traditional financial markets.

“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 establishing another account with a cryptocurrency provider and creating a Bitcoin wallet or are concerned that these providers may be unregulated and subject to security risks,” he said.

The news comes shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accepted the registration request for ProShares’ Bitcoin ETF on Oct. 15. On the same day, the SEC also accepted the registration request for shares of Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF for listing on Nasdaq.

Related: Grayscale hints at plans to convert Bitcoin trust into BTC-settled ETF

On Oct. 5, the SEC also approved Volt Crypto Industry Revolution and Tech ETF, a crypto ETF linked to companies with Bitcoin exposure, including firms like Microstrategy and Tesla.

“Though it isn't holding the actual coin, it doesn't look like a coin-based ETF will be coming out this year either. The next approvals will probably be futures based ETFs which also aim for bitcoin exposure, but they come with their own set of problems that isn’t in a coin-based ETF,” Volt Equity CEO Tad Park told Cointelegraph.

Amid positive Bitcoin ETF news in the United States, Bitcoin price surged around 30% over the past 14 days, crossing $60,000 for the first time since April on Oct. 15. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $61,692, up around 1.3% over the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko.