Crypto ETFs Surge on Leveraged Bitcoin ETF Approval, Spot Bitcoin Hopes
The price of bitcoin climbed above $30,000, fueling gains in cryptocurrency ETFs.
The price of bitcoin surged this week as spot exchange-traded fund hopes picked up steam. The world’s most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap jumped from around $26,400 to over $30,000 in the five days through June 23.
On Friday, the SEC approved the Volatility Shares 2x Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITX), the first U.S.-listed leveraged bitcoin futures ETF, which is scheduled to start trading Tuesday. The launch appeared to further boost crypto investors’ enthusiasm.

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), which closely tracks bitcoin prices, gained 14.3% in the period—matching the return for underlying bitcoin prices.
BITO holds bitcoin futures contracts traded on the CME. But despite mirroring moves in bitcoin, BITO isn’t what most investors want. Its $1 billion in assets under management is relatively modest for being the largest crypto-related ETF listed in the U.S.
Instead, investors have been pining for a spot bitcoin ETF, one that has more direct ownership of bitcoin. A spot bitcoin ETF, like the proposed iShares Bitcoin Trust, would, through a custodian, own private keys associated with bitcoin.
Such a spot ETF might attract many more investors than BITO has, fueling strong demand for bitcoin itself. At least, that’s the assumption traders were working with when they pushed bitcoin over $30,000 this week.
Since BlackRock filed paperwork with the SEC for a new spot bitcoin ETF on June 15, the prospect of a spot bitcoin ETF has been the talk of the crypto town. It’s given renewed hope to an asset class and an industry that has been beaten and battered by bursting bubbles, fraud and regulatory pushback.
Beyond Bitcoin
ETFs that hold crypto-related stocks, such as the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK), climbed to new 2023 highs this week.
BLOK is now up 40% year to date, while the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI)—the best-performing crypto ETF of the year—is higher by 185%.
Shares of Coinbase, a poster child for the crypto industry, didn’t rally much this week, as concerns about the SEC’s lawsuit against the company weighed on sentiment. But other crypto companies like Marathon Digital Holdings took off.
The question now becomes whether this rally in crypto-related assets and stocks can sustain itself without fresh news on the spot bitcoin ETF front.
The last time bitcoin traded above $31,000 was a year ago.
Contact Sumit Roy @[email protected]