Proshares Bitcoin futures fund in top 2% of all ETFs for volume

November 11, 2021 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin etf

While BTIO is going from strength to strength with a total of $1.4 billion worth of inflows since late October, one expert thinks that VanEck’s Bitcoin spot ETF has a 200-1 chance of being approved by the SEC.

Since its launch on Oct. 19 Proshares’ Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been a popular choice with traders, rising to the top 2% of all ETFs in terms of total trading volume.

Bloomberg’s Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted on Nov. 11 that the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) had $400 million worth of shares traded yesterday, with its average volume consistently putting it in the top 2% of all ETFs.

$BITO and $BTF both had their biggest volume days in about two weeks. $BITO with a $400m traded, which is not only a ton but = 25% turnover in one day- indicating its usage as a trading tool. pic.twitter.com/ukDGeSEa6F
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) November 10, 2021

BITO has seen roughly $112.79 million combined inflows over the past nine days. While the figure pales in comparison to the first two days of the fund’s listing that saw $567.16 million and $489.51 million worth of inflows each, Baluchunas noted that “this kind of consistent flow-age is highly rare” for a newly launched ETF.

BITO launched on the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 19 and has since accumulated more than $1.4 billion worth of assets under management (AUM). Investor appetite for the fund remains high although the price of BITO has failed to surge and is currently sitting at $42.3, which is slightly below its initial listing price around $43.2.g. Balchunas suggested that options volume may be the driving factor behind BITO at this stage.

There seems little hope of a Bitcoin ETF tracking the spot price being approved in the immediate future, with Balchunas suggesting that VanEck’s spot ETF would almost certainly be knocked back by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the Nov. 14 deadline. The analyst put the odds at a “bleak” 200-1.

The SEC has 100 hours left until they have to approve or deny the VanEck spot Bitcoin ETF (my guess is they drop it Friday after mkt close but who knows). While our odds of approval are a bleak 200-1 the denial statement could offer some clues as to when it could happen @JSeyff https://t.co/Y2n3qPAvIp
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) November 10, 2021

On Nov. 10, ProShares investment strategist Leks Gerlak told U.S. News & World Report that BITO should have no issues with reflecting the value of Bitcoin as futures contracts play a key role in determining its spot value:

“There is no single reference price for Bitcoin, and the trading price of Bitcoin varies from one exchange to another, often between 1% to 2%, and sometimes by 4% to 5%. Expert research on this topic finds that the Bitcoin futures market dominates the price discovery process.”

“Over the past few years, Bitcoin futures and Bitcoin have historically provided very similar returns. Both correlation and beta have been very close to one to Bitcoin,” he added.

Ethereum back in price discovery as ETH approaches $5K

November 8, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Ethereum back in price discovery as ETH approaches K

Bitcoin

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency crossed the $4,700 mark following Bitcoin's rally.

Ethereum blockchain’s native asset, Ether (ETH), touched a new record high on Nov. 8, supported by a rally across the top cryptocurrencies ahead of a key United Stat inflation report this week.

ETH’s price rose by 3.30% in the past 24 hours to $4,770 for the first time in it history as Bitcoin (BTC) reclaimed $66,000, demonstrating the strong positive correlation between the two digital assets.

*Cryptocurrency correlation table (based on data collected in the last 24 hours). Source: Crypto Watch*

Inflationary pressure returns

Wall Street economists anticipated the U.S. Consumer Price Index to rise to 5.8% in October ahead of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation report on Wednesday. That would log a step up from the 5.4% tempo recorded in September, the highest since 1990.

Additionally, consensus forecasts observed by Bloomberg suggested that the U.S. consumer prices rose 0.6% between September and October, up from 0.4% between August and September.

*U.S. headline inflation. Source: Bloomberg, Bureau of Labor Statistics*

The latest inflation figures came after the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting last week. The U.S. central bank decided to unwind its $120-billion-a-month asset-purchase program to tame the persistently rising consumer prices and bring them down to its intended 2% target.

But the Fed officials stuck to their long-term view that inflation is “transitory” in nature, eventually deciding to keep their benchmark interest rates near zero. That kept Bitcoins overall bullish momentum intact, given its high returns in the period of ultra-low interest rates and massive bond-buying.

ETH price technicals

Ether’s technicals supported an upside outlook, with the price trending eying a run-up toward its prevailing ascending channel’s resistance trendline — near the $4,800–$5,000 area — as shown in the chart below.

*ETH/USD daily price chart featuring its ascending channel setup. Source: TradingView*

Additionally, the ongoing bull flag breakout setup also shifted Ether’s profit target to near $4,800.

Bernhard Rzymelka, global markets managing director at Goldman Sachs, anticipates Ether to have hit $8,000 by December 2021 if the token keeps tracking inflation expectations.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Money managers with zero crypto exposure risk being left behind — Bloomberg strategist

November 3, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Price

Crypto has grown to become a $2.7 trillion asset class, with Bitcoin, Ether and DeFi attracting more institutional interest.

The career risk surrounding cryptocurrency is shifting to money managers who don’t have exposure to digital assets as opposed to those who are already invested, highlighting a dramatic shift in the institutional acceptance of Bitcoin (BTC) and decentralized finance, according to Bloomberg’s senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone.

The November edition of Bloomberg’s Crypto Outlook described 2021 as just another foundation year for the cryptocurrency market, further underscoring the long-term value proposition of digital assets. In this environment, money managers “risk falling behind and underperforming peers who own crypto assets,” wrote McGlone, adding:

“Our graphic depicts the 200%-plus outperformance of the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto and DeFi indexes in 2021 vs. the S&P 500.”

Although crypto exhibits much higher volatility than traditional investments, selloffs in assets such as Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) “appear to be attracting responsive buyers, most of which face the potential of falling behind by avoiding crypto allocations.”

Bull markets are about positive dangling carrots and we see plenty ahead for #Bitcoin and #Ethereum. The launch of Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. appears as an iteration to get to what may better facilitate most investors -- ETFs tracking the crypto market, like the S&P 500. pic.twitter.com/xMQtBdQ5nA
— Mike McGlone (@mikemcglone11) October 25, 2021

McGlone further explained that “managers are expected to catch big trends ahead of the masses,” a feat that becomes much more difficult if they rely on traditional portfolio strategies, such as allocating 60% to equities and 40% to bonds. Many wealth managers have warned that the traditional 60–40 portfolio is no longer sufficient in today's market.

As Cointelegraph reported in early October, McGlone correctly predicted the early stages of Bitcoin’s fourth-quarter breakout, arguing that the $50,000 resistance had likely flipped to support. The analyst said $100,000 BTC was in play for 2021 — a view that was reiterated in the latest report.

At the time of writing, the flagship cryptocurrency was worth $62,080, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro. Bitcoin peaked above $67,000 in October before correcting lower.

*Bitcoin price remains firmly above $60,000. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro*

Investment managers and financial advisers are expected to play a bigger role in the cryptocurrency market, according to Grayscale’s Michael Sonnenshein, Amber Group’s Jeffrey Wang and Tyr Capital’s Edouard Hindi. In the first quarter, Cointelegraph interviewed the three executives to gauge institutional interest in crypto investments. In their view, the “career risk” of investing in crypto had diminished considerably. The final domino, according to Edouard Hindi, could be fiduciary standards:

“Now that custody and regulatory barriers are slowly dropping, what could still be hindering a broader adoption of crypto by financial advisors is the perception that ‘fiduciary standards’ remain a challenge in openly advocating for the asset class to be included in customers’ portfolios.”

Ethereum in a Clear Bull Market, According to Bloomberg Commodity Strategist – Here’s Why

October 28, 2021 The Daily Hodl

Valkyrie Bitcoin futures ETF to launch on Nasdaq on Oct. 22

October 21, 2021 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin futures

Valkyrie’s Bitcoin futures ETF will go live on Nasdaq just a few days after ProShares debuted a similar product on NYSE.

Valkyrie’s Bitcoin (BTC) futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) is poised to follow the launch of ProShares' Bitcoin Strategy ETF this Friday.

Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF is finally effective and is set to start trading on Nasdaq under the ticker BTF on Oct. 22, Valkyrie confirmed to Cointelegraph on Thursday.

The launch comes after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, granted a notice of effectiveness to Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF on Oct. 20.

According to Valkyrie Funds' CEO Leah Wald, the upcoming launch of Valkyrie’s Bitcoin futures ETF marks an important milestone in the relationship between the cryptocurrency industry and U.S. regulators.

“This launch is important because it's further affirmation that U.S. regulators want to collaborate with the industry to regulate crypto assets rather than ban them,” she said.

“The more products that come to market, the more awareness they bring and, hopefully, more adoption. There are of course other filings for similar products, and it would make sense for them to come to market,” Wald added.

As previously reported, ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF became the first Bitcoin futures-based ETF to ever launch in the United States, starting trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 19. Earlier in October, the SEC also approved a Bitcoin-linked ETF product by Volt Equity, providing investors with an instrument investing in companies with significant exposure to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin futures ETF debuts with highest ever first day ‘natural’ volume of $1B

October 20, 2021 Coin Telegraph

<div>Bitcoin futures ETF debuts with highest ever first day 'natural' volume of B</div>

bitcoin etf

ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF saw around $1 billion volume on its opening day, with 24.313 million BITO shares changing hands.

ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy exchange-traded fund (BITO) saw the highest ever first day “natural” volume for an ETF, with the figure reaching a little over $1 billion by the end of the opening day.

It is second overall, tailing just behind the Blackrock US Carbon Transition Readiness ETF which booked $1.16B in volume on its debut in April.

The ProShare’s Bitcoin futures-based ETF launched on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 19 with an opening price of $40.88. According to data from TradingView, BITO closed the day at $41.94 with a total of 24.313 million shares changing hands, equating to a first-day volume of just over $1 billion.

Commenting on the BITO’s opening day performance, Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted that ProShares’ ETF was arguably the largest in terms of “natural” or “grassroots interest.”

If we don't exclude ETFs where their Day One volume was literally one pre-planned giant investor or BYOA (not natural), it still ranks #2 overall. Here's that list. The reason some of these shouldn't be included IMO is they don't really represent grassroots interest. pic.twitter.com/wmZiHnpFrS
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 19, 2021

Balchunas said Blackrock’s US Carbon Transition Readiness ETF (LCTU) April launch volume was “unnatural” as it was driven by “one pre-planned giant investor.” LCTU’s daily volume also fell off a cliff to between $2 million to $6 million in the days after launch.

There were reportedly $570 million worth of inflows for BITO on the first day, suggesting that ProShares’ ETF could rank itself as an industry heavyweight in terms of year-one net flows for a first-to-market single commodity ETF in 12 months.

According to data from FactSet, the top two single commodity ETFs leading the pack are Gold and Silver, with year-one flows of $3 billion and $1.7 billion respectively. Outside of commodities, the largest year- one flow for an ETP of $5.351 billion was for the Invesco QQQ Trust.

Wondering how big the new bitcoin futures ETFs might get?

The white papers we submitted to the SEC last week have some context. For instance, here's a table of the first year net flows into every first-to-market single commodity ETF (FactSet data).https://t.co/3UnIel6sfX pic.twitter.com/h5Jg6RdgWd
— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) October 18, 2021

While the bullish performance marks a significant milestone for ProShares and the crypto sector, Balchunas warned that it could have consequences for the other firm’s next in line to launch their own Bitcoin (BTC) futures ETFs:

“The other result of today is it makes life that much harder for the next in line ETFs to succeed. Time is of the essence. Every day counts because once an ETF gets known as 'the one' and has tons of liquidity, it's virtually impossible to steal.”

Following ProShares’ ETF launch on Tuesday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler outlined in an interview why he, and the SEC, favor ETFs backed by Bitcoin futures as opposed to the spot price of BTC.

“BTC futures have been overseen by the SEC’s sister agency, The Commodities Futures Trading Commission, for the past four years. You have something that’s been overseen for the past four years by a federal regulator and it’s also been wrapped up in the SEC’s jurisdiction through the Investment Company Act of 1940,” he said.

Valkyrie’s Bitcoin futures-based ETF is set to be the second product to join BITO on the NYSE this week. It cheekily changed its ticker to BTFD, which is slang for Buy The F--ing Dip.

Analysts predict Valkyrie will launch Bitcoin Futures ETF this week

October 19, 2021 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin etf

Bloomberg ETF analysts are predicting Valkyrie’s futures-based Bitcoin ETF will commence trading this week.

Commentators are predicting that a second futures-based Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) will go live by the end of the week following the launch of ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF later today.

On Oct. 19, Bloomberg’s analyst Eric Balchunas predicted that Valkyrie’s Bitcoin (BTC) futures-based ETF is “likely” to launch in the coming days after being certified for listing on the Nasdaq exchange last week.

If true, the milestone would make Valkyrie’s fund only the second Bitcoin ETF to launch in the United States, with ProShares’ futures-based ETF slated to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker $BITO on Oct. 19.

Fellow Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart had initially predicted that Valkyrie's Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($BTF) would go live on the same day as ProShares’ product. However, Balchunas tweeted earlier today that Varlkyrie’s fund will “likely” launch on Oct. 20 or Oct. 21, adding that ProShares will have the “market to itself” for the time being.

Update: Valkyrie not going live tomorrow. Likely looking to launch Wed or Thu tho, but we'll see. Anyway, $BITO will have market to itself tomorrow. https://t.co/G2Ucit6yxM
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 18, 2021

Balchunas also noted that Valkyrie had updated its ticker from BTFD to BTF in its application.

Invesco bows out of race to launch futures-based Bitcoin ETF

Despite the bullish sentiment surrounding the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving the United States’ first Bitcoin ETF, Invesco announced it had withdrawn its application for a futures-based ETF on Oct. 18.

While onlookers had predicted Invesco’s futures ETF would receive a greenlight from the SEC this week, the firm revealed on Oct. 18 that it had withdrawn its application, adding its intentions to work toward launching a spot Bitcoin ETF in partnership with crypto broker-dealer Galaxy Digital. Invesco stated:

“We have determined not to pursue the launch of a Bitcoin futures ETF in the immediate near-term; however we will continue to work in partnership with Galaxy Digital to offer investors a full shelf of products with exposure to this transformative asset class, including pursuing a physically-backed, digital asset ETF.”

However, during an Oct. 19 episode of Anthony Pompliano’s “Best Business Show,” Seyffart and Balchunas argued that the approval of a spot BTC-backed ETF is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Balchunas asserted that SEC chairman Gary Gensler is much more “comfortable” with Bitcoin futures-based ETFs as they offer greater consumer protections than spot-backed funds.

SEC likely to allow Bitcoin futures ETF to trade next week: Reports

October 15, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

The long-awaited launch of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund could finally arrive on Monday.

The long wait for a Bitcoin exchange-traded product could soon be over according to sources reported by financial media giant Bloomberg.

Citing “people familiar with the matter” Bloomberg has reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to approve the first Bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds in the country.

The anonymous sources said:

“The regulator isn’t likely to block the products from starting to trade next week.”

A futures product is likely to be the first one approved since they are viewed more favorably by regulators. Futures are governed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and require investors to put down cash on margin to trade them.

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, is confident that the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF could be the first one launched as the decision deadline is Oct. 18. The Invesco Bitcoin Strategy ETF may be approved the following day barring any further delays by the SEC.

In a tweet on Oct. 15, the analyst stated: “Pretty much done deal. Expect launches next week,” before adding the “odds now over 90% IMO.”

JUST IN: Bitcoin futures ETFs said not to face any opposition at SEC, according to multiple sources confirming this (aside, I’m hearing same thing). Pretty much done deal. Expect launches next week. Nice late night story from @kgreifeld @VildanaHajric @benbain pic.twitter.com/axT6ME4MeI
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 15, 2021

SEC chair Gary Gensler has voiced favor for funds based on CME-traded Bitcoin futures filed under a 1940s law, adding more weight to the potential of a long-awaited approval.

On Oct. 14 Cointelegraph reported that Ark Invest had teamed up with 21Shares to file for an ETF that will trade in Bitcoin futures indicating that they too were confident that product approval is imminent.

Deadlines for ETF applications from VanEck and Valkyrie are also approaching on Oct. 25 so there could be a slew of them hitting exchanges over the next couple of weeks.

Monday, Oct. 18 could be a big day for Bitcoin prices as markets have been bubbling up in anticipation of this landmark event. At the time of writing, BTC had just spiked to $59,600 before a slight retreat according to CoinGecko.

Bitcoin Appears Ready for Q4 Price Rise As Demand for Ethereum Outpaces Supply: Bloomberg Analyst Mike McGlone

October 11, 2021 The Daily Hodl

Bitcoin’s $50K resistance to become support in Q4 — Bloomberg commodity strategist

October 6, 2021 Coin Telegraph

<div>Bitcoin's K resistance to become support in Q4 — Bloomberg commodity strategist</div>

Bitcoin Price

BTC price surged toward $55,000 on Wednesday even as traditional risk assets such as stocks tumbled and the dollar rose.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) meteoric rise above $50,000 this week is likely to continue well into the fourth quarter, as the psychological resistance flips to support during the next leg of the bull market, according to Bloomberg’s senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone.

On Tuesday, McGlone circulated the October 2021 edition of the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index, which provided an overview of where digital assets could be headed for the rest of the year. In the report, McGlone speculated that Bitcoin’s $50,000 resistance — a level that has proven impenetrable since the May dump — was about to flip support.

“Bitcoin's $50,000 resistance point since May appears ripe to become the crypto's support value in 4Q,” he wrote, adding:

“We view the $40,000 mark as similar to the crypto's $10,000 launchpad from 4Q20. Parallels are visible from about 4x higher. The 2021 average price is $44,500, and adoption and demand are on the rise vs. diminishing supply.”

The BTC price surged toward $55,000 on Wednesday, as a confluence of technical, fundamental and sentiment factors pushed the cryptocurrency to multi-month highs. As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin is increasingly decoupling from the broader macro-environment. Case in point: BTC’s 9% rise on Wednesday came as the Dow Jones plunged over 200 points and the U.S. dollar rose 0.4% against a basket of competing currencies.

McGlone’s report indicated that Bitcoin remains at a discount when compared with traditional stock market indexes like the Nasdaq. “Rising equities should keep high-beta Bitcoin buoyant, but if the stock market drops, more stimulus will solidify underpinnings for the digital reserve asset,” he explained.

The report also had positive things to say about Ether (ETH) amid widespread adoption of DeFi, decentralized exchanges and nonfungible tokens. Regarding the Ether price, McGlone has set a target of $5,000, arguing that the path of least resistance is higher.

Bloomberg

Inflationary pressure returns

ETH price technicals

Invesco bows out of race to launch futures-based Bitcoin ETF

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