News

Law

Asset Management

Investment Banking

Wealth

Hedge Funds

People

Newsletters

Events

Lists

Fintech

The new bitcoin ETF is riskier than you think — even by crypto standards

Wild volatility, contango and sizeable costs — why did the SEC bless a futures ETF over one that tracks the spot?

Investors 'might not even realise that this bitcoin ETF is a futures product'
Investors 'might not even realise that this bitcoin ETF is a futures product' Photo: Getty Images

When the US Securities and Exchange Commission gave the go-ahead for Wall Street’s first crypto-linked exchange-traded product last month, markets went wild in anticipation of the brave new world. 

Demand for crypto among Americans is rising, albeit from a tiny slice of the population. Some 4% of Americans said they owned at least one cryptocurrency last year, compared to 2% in 2019.

WSJ Logo