SEC clears 3x Bitcoin and Ether funds for listing
The SEC approved Cboe's listing proposal for 3x Bitcoin and Ether funds. The products target three times a daily futures benchmark, with returns compounded each day.
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The SEC has approved Cboe BZX’s proposal to list the 3x Bitcoin ETF and 3x Ether ETF, products designed to amplify a daily crypto futures benchmark. The order dated 2 October 2026 covers six funds in the VS Trust, sponsored by Volatility Shares.
The two crypto products sit alongside 3x funds for gold, silver, crude oil and natural gas. Their investment objective is three times the relevant benchmark’s daily performance, before fees and expenses. That daily reset shapes the return a holder receives over a longer period.
The approval covers the exchange’s listing rules
The SEC’s 2 October order approves a specific rule change permitting Cboe BZX to list and trade the six funds. Cboe submitted the proposal on 10 August.
The products use the exchange’s commodity-based trust-share framework. Cboe’s published proposal makes trading dependent on an effective registration statement. Listing approval is one step in that process; the order provides the exchange-rule permission.
Futures provide the daily crypto exposure
The Bitcoin and Ether funds would seek exposure through first- and second-month futures contracts, according to Cboe’s proposal. Futures are contracts for a specified asset at a later settlement date. The portfolio also holds cash and cash equivalents to support collateral and margin requirements.
The sponsor adjusts exposure to account for changes in the benchmark and purchases or redemptions of fund shares. The target applies to a futures benchmark, so investors need to read the benchmark methodology alongside the three-times label.
A round trip can leave a leveraged fund lower
An idealised daily 3x fund can finish below its starting value after a benchmark rises and then falls back. Daily compounding creates that result even before fees, trading costs or imperfect tracking.
For example, start both values at 100. A 10% benchmark gain takes the benchmark to 110 and a perfectly tracking daily 3x fund to 130. A subsequent fall of about 9.09% returns the benchmark to 100. Three times that day’s fall takes the fund to about 94.55.
| Illustrative point | Benchmark | Daily 3x fund |
|---|---|---|
| Start | 100 | 100 |
| After a 10% benchmark gain | 110 | 130 |
| After the benchmark returns to 100 | 100 | 94.55 |
The figures are a mathematical example assuming exact daily tracking and zero costs.
Investors need to assess the holding period
The SEC’s investor bulletin on leveraged funds explains that daily reset products can diverge significantly from a multiple of their benchmark over weeks or months. Volatility, compounding and expenses all affect the outcome.
For the newly approved Bitcoin and Ether listings, the prospectus, futures benchmark and daily investment objective are the documents that define the exposure investors would buy.
