Share this article
Direxion Files for Short Bitcoin Futures ETF
Investment firms are getting creative after last week’s watershed bitcoin ETF launch.
Updated Mar 9, 2024, 2:00 a.m. Published Oct 26, 2021, 9:57 p.m.
Exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer Direxion wants to short the price of a bitcoin futures contract.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, the Direxion Bitcoin Strategy Bear ETF will maintain short exposure to bitcoin futures contracts issued by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The product won’t directly invest in bitcoin.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Shorting is a bet that the price of something – in this case, bitcoin futures contracts – will go down over a certain period of time.
The ETF might also invest in other bitcoin futures ETFs or money market funds, deposit accounts or short-term debt instruments.
“The fund will generally maintain its short exposure to bitcoin futures during periods in which the value of bitcoin is flat or declining as well as during periods in which the value of bitcoin is rising,” the filing said.
This is Direxion’s first bitcoin ETF filing in three years, after the SEC rejected past efforts.
Direxion isn’t the only issuer hoping to put a creative spin on bitcoin futures ETFs. On Tuesday, Valkyrie Investments filed to offer an ever-so-slightly leveraged bitcoin futures ETF. Valkyrie was one of two firms to launch the first bitcoin futures ETF products last week.
Although the SEC has proven receptive to a narrow class of bitcoin ETFs – after years of stonewalling – it has not yet weighed in on these more ambitious follow-ups. The agency has 75 days to respond before Direxion’s ETF would automatically take effect.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Interactive Brokers Now Accepts Stablecoins in a Bid to Remain Competitive
The firm has begun offering stablecoin account funding for U.S. retail clients, joining a growing list of brokerages racing to keep pace with crypto-native rivals.
Top Stories
