Valkyrie's bitcoin futures ETF posts trade volume worth nearly $80 million on opening day

Valkyrie's bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed on NASDAQ Friday, scoring an $80 million debut by the end of the day's session.

Valkyrie's Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($BTF) opened at $25 and closed the day at $24.16, according to data from Bloomberg. In sum, the day's volume came in at about $78 million after roughly 3.1 million shares traded hands.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Anthony Rayar tweeted that volume and value traded for $BTF and $BITO show "strong and consistent demand."

Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted the $BTF listing remained a significant debut of this year despite being significantly overshadowed by ProShares' $BITO.

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By comparison, ProShares listed the first bitcoin-futures ETF earlier this week on the New York Stock Exchange, and the product surpassed already-high expectations with an inaugural day volume nearing $1 billion.

ProShares won the race to list the U.S.'s first crypto ETF after SEC Commissioner Gary Gensler expressed an interest in reviewing crypto proposals for products tied to CME bitcoin futures. Valkyrie was second across the line, but other proposals are waiting in the wings, including VanEck, which is expected to list some time next week.

Action in new futures-based ETFs has spilled over into the underpinning market. CME Group's bitcoin futures market has seen open-interest surge above $5 billion, triggering concerns that funds could bump up against CME's position limits. If funds hit position limits, then their ability to track the underlying is diminished because they are forced to buy longer-dated contracts that trade higher.

"What we've seen in the last two days is a ton of Oct to Nov futures rolling activity happening in the market," noted Joshua Lim, head of derivatives at Genesis. "On Tues the roll closed at +$595, but it hit a high of +$1,240 on Wed as the ETF likely rolled out exposure to Nov where the position limit is higher. Over 5,000 contracts of the roll have traded in the last three days."

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Aislinn Keely is a reporter on The Block's policy team holding down the legal beat. She covers court decisions, bankruptcies, regulatory actions and other key moments in the legal sphere, putting them in context for the wider crypto industry. Before The Block, she lent her voice to the NPR affiliate WFUV and helmed Fordham University's student newspaper. Send tips or thoughts on all things policy and legal to [email protected] or follow her on Twitter for updates @AislinnKeely.