ProShares Bitcoin ETF leaves Gold behind after beating 18-year record

ProShares Bitcoin ETF crossed over $1 billion in Assets under Management (AUM) within two days of its listing on 19 October, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg Intelligence further revealed that no other exchange-traded fund has ever hit the $1 billion mark in terms of volume this quickly. It ranked BITO as the second “heaviest-traded ETF debut on record.” BITO was right behind BlackRock carbon fund, as the latter was backed by pre-seed investments for its first 24 hours of trading 

While BITO was listed at a price of $40, it was trading close to $42.6, at press time

The BTC futures ETF reportedly saw more than 24 million shares change hands in the first 24 hours. By Wednesday’s close, over 29 million units had been traded, the report found.

Bitcoin and gold are often compared asset classes as a hedge against inflation. This time around, the competition was close.

The first exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracked the price of gold was SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD) in the United States in 2004. GLD hit $1 billion in AUM in just three days. It held that record for 18 years, before being beaten by BITO.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin also managed to top its previous ATH after it breached the $67,000-level. In fact, according to JP Morgan Chase’s statement,

In another update, the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy fund is reportedly ready to start trading on 22 October. It will be the second-ever U.S. Bitcoin Futures ETF with Justin Sun, CEO of BitTorrent, as its key investor.

As it will trade on Nasdaq, Sun announced,

With Invesco ETF out of the race, a total of three Bitcoin ETFs have got the green light. VanEck will likely be listed next week with more funds back in the queue.