Cboe BZX Exchange has asked the SEC to approve the first U.S. 3x daily leveraged bitcoin and ether ETFs, part of a six-fund slate that also covers gold, silver, oil, and natural gas. Volatility Shares LLC would sponsor the funds, which are structured as commodity pools under CFTC oversight rather than SEC-regulated 1940 Act companies, and cannot trade until their SEC registration takes effect.
Cboe BZX Exchange is seeking U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approval to list a suite of leveraged commodity ETFs, including 3x daily bitcoin and ether products.
Six funds, one filing
According to the proposed rule change published on Friday, Cboe wants to introduce 3x gold, silver, bitcoin, ether, crude oil, and natural gas ETFs, each aiming to deliver three times the daily performance of its underlying asset by holding futures contracts on CME or COMEX. Volatility Shares LLC will sponsor the funds, which will enter the VS Trust. For bitcoin specifically, the fund would pursue its target through first- and second-month CME Bitcoin futures contracts.
Because the funds seek leveraged returns, they fall outside Cboe's generic listing standards and require specific SEC approval — hence the rule change request. Cboe will also file a related Form S-1 registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933.
What triple leverage does to returns
If bitcoin futures rise 2% in a day, the fund targets a 6% gain; a 2% drop targets a 6% loss. That daily reset means the compounding effect of daily rebalancing can cause returns to diverge from simply tripling bitcoin's cumulative return over longer holding periods. These products are designed for short-term trading, not buy-and-hold portfolios.
Structure keeps the funds under CFTC, not SEC, oversight
The funds are designed to operate as commodity pools under Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight, rather than as traditional 1940 Act investment companies overseen by the SEC. According to The Block: Cboe called this structure "an additional layer of federal regulatory oversight" beyond what a physical commodity-based exchange-traded product would face. Shares cannot begin trading until the associated S-1 registration statement becomes effective, and no listing date has been confirmed.
Volatility Shares already offers 2x bitcoin and ether strategy ETFs in the U.S. market. LeverageShares debuted the world's first 3x and -3x bitcoin and ether ETFs in Europe last year, giving European investors a head start on the leverage tier Cboe now wants to bring to American traders.
Sources: The Block, Crypto Briefing
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