TradFi Giant Direxion Joins Crypto ETF Race by Filing for Combined Bitcoin and Ether Futures Fund
Exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer Direxion filed for a Bitcoin and Ether futures product Wednesday, joining a whole raft of companies hoping to launch similar crypto-related trading products in the U.S.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Direxion Bitcoin Ether Strategy ETF would invest in bitcoin and ether futures contracts, should regulators approve the product. The product may also invest in other ETFs with exposure to futures products.
The move comes the same week six other companies filed to launch ether futures ETFs. They join a crowded field of crypto ETF hopefuls; the SEC is currently reviewing more than half a dozen applications to launch a spot bitcoin ETF.
The SEC has traditionally rejected ether futures and spot bitcoin ETFs. The spot bitcoin ETF applicants believe they have met the regulator’s requirements, emphasizing details like surveillance-sharing agreements in recent applications.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts said they gave the chances of the SEC allowing a bitcoin ETF a favorable rating.
The ether future ETF applicants hope to begin trading later this year, if the SEC does not ask them to withdraw their filings.
Edited by Nelson Wang.
