Just In: ProShares to Debut ETF Targeting Ether Futures Downturn

ProShares recently announced its new exchange-traded fund (ETF), the ProShares Short Ether Strategy. This ETF allows investors to adopt a bearish perspective on ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency globally. If the Standard & Poor’s CME Ether Futures Index drops by 1%, the ETF aims to return an equivalent of 1%. Moreover, the fund’s approach is tied to futures contracts on ether, diverging from the spot price of the token.

Additionally, the cryptocurrency community awaits the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision on spot Bitcoin ETFs. However, this isn’t the company’s first foray into ether ETFs. ProShares launched three out of nine new ether ETFs in early October. Among them, the ProShares Ether Strategy ETF solely focuses on ether, while the remaining two offer combined exposure to both ether and bitcoin.

ProShares CEO Defends New Ether ETF

Interestingly, the reception to these ether ETFs has been relatively lukewarm. While the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF gathered assets worth about $1 billion within its initial days, the most substantial ether futures ETF managed to accrue less than $10 million. Consequently, this stark difference in performance raises eyebrows in the financial community.

Michael Sapir, ProShares CEO, elucidated the rationale behind the inverse ether ETF. He mentioned that this innovative ETF aims “to address the challenge of acquiring short exposure to ether,” which is often cumbersome and costly. Additionally, ProShares has another feather in its cap – the ProShares Short Bitcoin Strategy. This fund boasts about $74 million in assets.

VanEck Revamps Bitcoin ETF Application Strategy

Roxana Islam from VettaFi highlighted the strategic move by ProShares. She emphasized that the inverse strategy is a niche that any upcoming spot product will only partially overshadow. Significantly, the BTC ETF landscape is also experiencing its fair share of activity. Notably, VanEck, a prominent player in the cryptocurrency arena, recently revised its Bitcoin ETF application with the SEC. This modification detailed the firm’s intentions to back the BTC ETF with funds rooted in physical BTC.

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