SEC Approves Cboe Listing for 3x Bitcoin and Ether Funds

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a rule change allowing the Cboe BZX Exchange to list six triple-leveraged products from Volatility Shares, including a 3x Bitcoin ETF and a 3x Ether ETF. The approval, granted on October 2, covers commodity trusts registered under the Securities Act of 1933, which differ from conventional ETFs governed by the Investment Company Act of 1940.

The remaining four funds target three times the daily movements in gold, silver, crude oil, and natural gas. These products are part of the VS Trust, sponsored and managed by Volatility Shares. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted the significance of the approval, calling it a 'big win for VolatilityShares.'

Cboe had to submit a standalone rule change to accommodate these funds, as its existing standards do not permit products that target multiples or inverses of benchmarks. The SEC's Division of Trading and Markets approved the proposal without public comments. Each fund will hold futures contracts on its respective commodity, with cash and cash equivalents as collateral. The SEC order did not specify a launch date.

The approval comes amidst the SEC's previous pushback on triple-leveraged funds under the 1940 Act, particularly a December 2025 letter to Direxion regarding concerns over Rule 18f-4, which limits value-at-risk to twice that of an unleveraged reference portfolio. Volatility Shares already offers 2x Bitcoin and Ether products under the tickers BITX and ETHU, which remain available on U.S. exchanges.