According to a title shared by the Bloomberg Terminal Twitter account, on Tuesday, Oct. 19, ProShares will launch the first long-expected Bitcoin futures ETF with the ticker BITO. The data has been confirmed by The New York Times. The ETF will trade on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Bitcoin ETF that will hold Bitcoin futures but not BTC itself will finally launch after a 75-day review by the U.S. SEC regulatory agency spearheaded by Gary Gensler.
The news that the ETF just might be approved was published last week. However, it has been confirmed now.
The flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, soared on the expectation of this ETF launch and reached a half-year high of $62,944 on Friday, and earlier today, it traded slightly lower—at $62,288 per coin.
Thus, BTC is inching close to its April all-time high of $64,895.
Last week, CNBC's Jim Cramer stated that this week four Bitcoin ETFs are expected to get SEC approval. If at least one of them is launched, he believes, then Bitcoin is likely to reach a short-term peak or even "a real peak." He stated that if the launch happens, he may even cash out half of his Ethereum stash.
Prominent economist Holger Zschaepitz tweeted that the SEC will not be announcing its approval of the ETF. However, ahead of the deadline for approving the product, it did not meet any objections from the regulatory agency. Thus, ProShares and the NYSE are getting ready for the launch on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin is fluctuating on the news of the long-expected ETF being about to kick off.