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Bitcoin traded near $85,000 on Sunday, October 4, as markets assessed a Securities and Exchange Commission decision that opens the way for Cboe BZX Exchange to list six exchange-traded products targeting three times the daily performance of specified futures benchmarks. Four products concern commodities; two track bitcoin and ether futures.
The SEC’s October 2 order approved Cboe’s proposed rule change for products sponsored by Volatility Shares and organized as series of the VS Trust. The decision approves the exchange’s listing proposal; it does not mean the products are already trading or that the funds will hold bitcoin or ether directly. Registration and other requirements for offering shares remain relevant before investors can buy them.
What the SEC approved
The six products are the 3x Bitcoin ETF, 3x Ether ETF, 3x Gold ETF, 3x Silver ETF, 3x Crude Oil ETF and 3x Natural Gas ETF. Although the funds’ names use “ETF,” the SEC order describes them as commodity-based trust shares and exchange-traded products, rather than funds regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Cboe BZX filed its proposed rule change with the SEC on August 10, 2026. The proposal was published for public comment on August 19, and the commission’s order says it received no comments. The October 2 decision found the proposal consistent with applicable securities laws and approved the rule change.
The approval concerns the exchange’s rules for listing and trading the shares. It is separate from the offering and registration process for the products themselves, and therefore should not be read as confirmation of a launch date or immediate availability to investors.
Daily leverage is based on futures
Each product is designed to seek, before fees and expenses, returns equal to three times the daily performance of its benchmark. For the crypto funds, that exposure is based on bitcoin and ether futures, not direct ownership of the digital assets. The SEC order says the funds will invest in benchmark futures and hold cash or cash equivalents as collateral or margin.
The target applies to daily performance, not to a multiple of the asset’s return over longer holding periods. As a result, performance over several days can differ from three times the cumulative move in the underlying benchmark. The products also face risks tied to futures exposure, including changes in contract prices and the practical requirements of maintaining positions and collateral.
The SEC’s approval order notes that futures contracts underpinning all six products trade on designated contract markets and have been available for at least six months. The order also describes surveillance-sharing arrangements between the exchange and the relevant futures markets, either directly or through common membership in the Intermarket Surveillance Group.
Why the products are notable
The bitcoin and ether funds would add another exchange-listed route to leveraged crypto exposure in the United States. Investors already have access to crypto-linked securities and other leveraged products, but the newly approved products are distinct in their structure and stated three-times-daily objective. The SEC order itself points to existing leveraged products tied to the same underlying commodities, including some with two-times exposure.
The approval followed a regulatory framework change rather than a finding that leveraged products are suitable for all investors. The order says broker-dealer recommendations remain subject to Regulation Best Interest and investment advisers retain fiduciary duties. Those obligations do not remove the risks of leveraged exposure or guarantee a particular outcome for investors.
For crypto markets, the products’ significance will depend in part on whether and when they complete the remaining offering steps and begin trading. Sunday’s bitcoin price action was relatively steady around the $85,000 level, according to contemporaneous Investing.com reporting, but the available coverage did not establish that the SEC decision caused the price movement.
What happens next
The SEC order clears Cboe BZX’s rule change to list the six VS Trust products. Volatility Shares and the exchange still face the operational and regulatory steps associated with making the shares available. The approval document does not specify a public trading start date.
Until the products are offered and listed, investors cannot assume that the approval itself creates an immediately tradable security. Further details about launch timing, ticker symbols and final offering materials were not established in the contemporaneous reporting reviewed for this article. The central confirmed development is narrower: the SEC has approved the exchange’s proposal, while the products’ eventual start of trading remains unannounced.
