SEC Greenlights 3x Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, Because Nothing Says "Stable Investment" Like Triple Leverage 🎢

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the first 3x leveraged Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds in the United States, clearing a Cboe BZX rule change on October 2 that allows Volatility Shares to list six triple-leveraged exchange-traded products. The approved lineup includes 3x Bitcoin, 3x Ether, 3x gold, 3x silver, 3x crude oil and 3x natural gas funds. The new products will not hold $BTC or $ETH directly. Instead, the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs will use regulated futures contracts, including CME-linked contracts, to target three times the daily move of their respective benchmarks, a structure designed to deliver approximately 3% before fees and costs for each 1% daily gain, and corresponding 3% losses on a 1% drop.

The SEC's approval does not authorize immediate trading. Volatility Shares still must file Form S-1 registration statements that become effective before brokers can offer the new ETFs to investors, and no launch date has been announced. The decision follows the firm's earlier launches of 2x Bitcoin and 2x Ether products, extending its suite of leveraged cryptocurrency funds tied to regulated futures markets. The newly approved ETFs cover Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold, silver, oil and natural gas under the same triple-leverage framework.

Returns on a leveraged ETF can diverge from three times the performance of the underlying asset over longer holding periods due to daily rebalancing and compounding effects. Investors reviewing the new products have been directed to each fund's prospectus for details on fees, benchmarks and associated risks. Volatility Shares has not disclosed an estimated launch timeline pending the effectiveness of its registration filings with the SEC.