The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETFs) from ProShares that’s launching this week. The offering is the first bitcoin-related ETF product to get the blessing of the regulator.

Why should we care?
Supporters of bitcoin ETFs feel that they offer investors exposure to crypto without the risk of having to buy the digital assets directly through an exchange. The ProShares product will track bitcoin futures, rather than the price of the cryptocurrency. The product is the first in a wave of bitcoin ETF products that are expected to be approved in the near future, including offerings from Valkyrie Investments, Invesco, VanEck, and others. The SEC has taken a cautious approach on how it views these products, citing concerns over fraud and manipulation. The regulator, in a recent tweet, advised investors to carefully weigh their options regarding the risks of such products. Some industry analysts argue that the bitcoin futures ETF could end up being a transition product, or a stop along the journey to a “spot market-based ETF.” Bitcoin futures products also have challenges, including “discrepancies between the futures market and the underlying assets they track,” which may cause these ETFs to lag behind the performance of bitcoin.