SEC approves Cboe BZX listing of six Volatility Shares 3x futures funds, including Bitcoin and Ether
The SEC approved Cboe BZX's rule change on Oct. 2, clearing six Volatility Shares funds that target triple daily returns on bitcoin, ether, gold, silver, crude oil and natural gas.
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Why it matters
U.S. crypto funds had been capped at 2x, so the order lifts that cap to three times a daily benchmark while leaving daily resets, and the compounding gap they create, intact. Volatility Shares already lists 2x funds BITX and ETHU in the U.S., and BITX held roughly $1.3 billion in assets under management per KuCoin, so the tripled versions go to an existing holder base. Decrypt reported the approval follows SEC warning letters on leverage above 2x issued in December 2025 and a March 2026 request to avoid 5x products.
Where the sources disagree
Legal form of the six funds
3x Bitcoin ETF and 3x Ether ETF
CryptoSlate, CoinDesk, CoinGape, Decrypt
Commodity-based trust shares registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and not regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940
Bitcoin.com News, Unchained
CoinDesk, Decrypt, CoinGape and CryptoSlate call the products ETFs while Unchained and Bitcoin.com state the SEC order classifies them as commodity-based trust shares outside the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Whether the approval permits trading
Clears a key regulatory hurdle that allows the funds to begin trading on U.S. exchanges
Bitcoin Insider, CoinGape
Approves the exchange rule change only; shares cannot be sold until the registration statement is effective and the order sets no deadline or launch date
CryptoSlate, CoinDesk, Decrypt, CryptoSlate
Bitcoin Insider and CoinGape say the order clears the listing hurdle for U.S. trading, while CoinDesk, Decrypt and CryptoSlate report that trading still requires the SEC to declare the registration statement effective.
Key facts
The SEC approved a Cboe BZX rule change on October 2, 2026 that clears the exchange to list six Volatility Shares funds targeting three times the daily move of bitcoin, ether, gold, silver, crude oil and natural gas.
Reported by CryptoSlate
All six funds are series of VS Trust, which Volatility Shares sponsors, and the order classifies the shares as commodity-based trust shares registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and outside the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Disputed figureReported by CryptoSlate
VS Trust's August 17 preliminary prospectus lists BITH for the bitcoin fund and ETHK for the ether fund as proposed symbols, in a filing marked subject to completion.
Reported by CryptoSlate
The order sets no launch date and shares cannot be sold until the SEC declares the registration statement effective, though Bitcoin Insider and CoinGape describe the approval as clearing the way for U.S. trading.
Disputed figureReported by CryptoSlate
The funds hold futures rather than coins and rebalance daily, and CoinDesk and BTC-ECHO both work an example in which bitcoin rises 10 percent and falls 10 percent, leaving the underlying down 1 percent while the 3x product is down 9 percent.
Reported by Unchained
CryptoSlate calculated that a 3x ether fund with $362.1 million in assets would target about $1.09 billion of exposure, equal to 8,000 standard CME ether contracts, CME's single-month and all-month accountability level effective March 2.
362,100,000 USDReported by CryptoSlate
Volatility Shares' existing ETHU held 19,204 October CME ether futures contracts worth $2.61 billion as of October 6 against $1.31 billion in net assets as of October 5, about 2.40 times the 8,000-contract level.
2,610,000,000 USDReported by CryptoSlate
What happened
On October 2, the SEC approved a Cboe BZX rule change clearing the exchange to list six Volatility Shares funds covering bitcoin, ether, gold, silver, crude oil and natural gas, each targeting three times the daily move of its benchmark. Cboe filed the change on August 10, it went to public comment on August 19, and the Division of Trading and Markets approved it under delegated authority without receiving public comments. VS Trust's August 17 preliminary prospectus names BITH for the bitcoin fund and ETHK for the ether fund as proposed symbols in a filing marked subject to completion, and CryptoSlate calculated on October 6 that a 3x ether fund holding $362.1 million in assets would target about $1.09 billion of exposure, equal to the 8,000 standard CME ether contracts that form CME's single-month and all-month accountability level. The funds hold futures rather than coins and reset their leverage daily, and CoinDesk and BTC-ECHO both use the same illustration in which bitcoin rises 10 percent and then falls 10 percent, leaving the underlying down 1 percent while the 3x product is down 9 percent. None of them trade yet, because shares cannot be sold until the SEC declares the registration statement effective and the order sets no deadline or first trading date, a point where Bitcoin Insider and CoinGape, which describe the approval as clearing the way for U.S. trading, diverge from CoinDesk, Decrypt and CryptoSlate, which report effectiveness is still outstanding. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on X that the order is a 'big win for VolatilityShares' and that leveraged ETFs are built for trading rather than investing, while Blockstream CEO Adam Back said automatic re-leveraging bleeds capital when the underlying chops sideways.
How the story developed
- Official statement
SEC approves the Cboe BZX rule change
The Division of Trading and Markets approved the proposal under delegated authority.
- First report
First report by CryptoSlate
3x Bitcoin and Ether futures funds clear SEC listing hurdle
- Update
VS Trust preliminary prospectus names BITH and ETHK
The filing lists proposed symbols and states securities cannot be sold until registration becomes effective.
- Update
CryptoSlate reports the approval; KuCoin confirms it on X
Coverage from CryptoSlate, Bitcoin Insider, Bitcoin.com, CoinDesk, BTC-ECHO, Decrypt and KuCoin describes the same six-fund line-up and the pending registration.
- Official statement
Official statement from Bitcoin.com News
SEC Approves Listing of Bitcoin ETF Targeting 3x Daily Futures Moves
- Update
Cboe BZX files rule change for six Volatility Shares leveraged products
The proposal was published for public comment on August 19.
- Update
CryptoSlate works out the ether fund's CME contract exposure
The calculation puts a fully funded 3x ether product at CME's 8,000-contract accountability level and compares it with ETHU's disclosed holdings.
How coverage built up
Independent sources over time, counted the way the consensus panel counts them: a republication of a wire story does not move the line.
- 4 Oct 2026, 14:20 UTC: CryptoSlate — 1 independent source, 1 reports
- 4 Oct 2026, 14:25 UTC: Bitcoin Insider — 2 independent sources, 2 reports
- 4 Oct 2026, 18:05 UTC: Bitcoin.com News, official — 3 independent sources, 3 reports
- 5 Oct 2026, 07:16 UTC: CoinGape — 4 independent sources, 4 reports
- 5 Oct 2026, 09:38 UTC: Unchained — 5 independent sources, 5 reports
- 5 Oct 2026, 11:14 UTC: CoinDesk — 6 independent sources, 6 reports
- 5 Oct 2026, 17:19 UTC: BTC-ECHO — 7 independent sources, 8 reports
- 5 Oct 2026, 18:12 UTC: Decrypt — 8 independent sources, 9 reports
Affected entities
Also mentioned: KuCoin, Donald Trump, Ripple, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Solana
Original sources
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