Namthip Muanthongthae
- Valkyrie's bitcoin futures ETF will start trading in the US on Friday, October 22, media reports said.
- The Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker "BTF", according to an SEC filing Thursday.
- It will compete with ProShares' bitcoin futures ETF, the first in the US and the fastest ETF to top $1 billion in assets under management.
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Valkyrie, a traditional US investment manager, will launch a bitcoin futures exchange traded fund (ETF) on the Nasdaq on Friday, making this the second such product to come to market this week, according to Bloomberg.
The fund will give investors exposure to bitcoin via futures contracts, which means they do not have to own the cryptocurrency to benefit from its price action.
Valkyrie was not immediately available to comment.
The Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF will trade under the ticker BTF, according to a filing Thursday. The company had planned to use the ticker "BTFD", a spokesperson told Bloomberg, but later changed its mind. This ticker was interpreted as "buy the fucking dip," echoing the popular trading strategy where investors buy bitcoin when it falls.
The investment management company is following ProShares, a US ETF provider, whose bitcoin futures ETF debuted on Tuesday. It has since amassed $1 billion assets under management, faster than any other fund.
It had the second biggest trading debut of all time and its success has encouraged investors to pile into bitcoin. Bitcoin hit a record of $66,999 on Wednesday according to Coinbase data. It was last up 1.69% at $63,264 by 06:02 a.m. ET. The price has gained 47% so far in October - set for its biggest monthly gain so far this year.
"It's a very competitive industry - when you think about a lot of ETFs," Thomas Perfumo, head of business operations and strategy at crypto exchange Kraken, told Insider.
"I don't know that first day, or first-mover, advantage with respect to this type of bitcoin ETF structure is going to matter that much. Totally up in the air," he said, talking about which ETF could end up number one.
VanEck, another asset management firm, is en route to launch its own bitcoin futures ETF after October 23, according to an SEC filing this week.