The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule change on October 2 that allows Cboe to list six funds built to deliver three times the daily price moves of Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold, silver, crude oil, and natural gas, according to the agency’s order.
The funds come from Volatility Shares, the issuer behind existing 2x Bitcoin and Ethereum products. Their shares will trade on Cboe’s BZX Exchange in the same way regular stocks do.
How the 3x structure works
An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is a basket of assets that investors buy and sell through a brokerage account like a share. A leveraged ETF uses debt and other financial tools to magnify gains, and losses.
These products target triple the daily move. If Bitcoin futures rise 2% in a session, the fund aims to gain 6%. If the futures contract drops 2%, the fund aims to lose 6%.
The exposure is obtained mainly through futures contracts, which are agreements to buy or sell an asset at a fixed price on a later date.
The daily reset is the key risk
The word that matters is “daily.” These funds reset every day, so the 3x target applies one day at a time. Over longer periods, returns can drift well away from three times the move in the underlying asset.
The example in the source order is straightforward. If Bitcoin futures fall 10% on Monday and then rise 10% on Tuesday, the asset finishes down 1%. A 3x fund would fall 30% and then gain 30%, leaving it down 9% overall.
Using a $100 position in Bitcoin, a 30% drop removes $30 and leaves $70. A 30% gain on $70 adds $21. The position ends at $91, or down 9% after the two-day move.
The SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, have warned investors about that exact outcome. Their alert says returns over periods longer than one day can differ significantly from the daily target.
Why Cboe needed SEC approval
Cboe’s fast-track listing rules for commodity funds exclude products that seek a multiple of an asset’s return. That meant the exchange had to seek individual approval from the SEC for these funds. Apart from the 3x objective, the products must still satisfy Cboe’s other listing standards.
The SEC relied on existing investor-protection rules. Under Regulation Best Interest, brokers must act in the best interest of retail customers. FINRA, the brokerage industry’s self-regulatory body, also applies stricter sales and margin requirements to leveraged products.
Leverage race and regulatory pushback
Volatility Shares launched the first leveraged crypto ETF in the United States in 2023, with exposure to Bitcoin futures. Spot Bitcoin ETFs, which hold the coins directly, arrived in January 2024 after a decade of rejections.
After that came the push for higher leverage. In October 2025, Defiance filed for 49 funds with 3x long and short exposure, while Volatility Shares filed for 5x products.
The SEC then moved to slow that expansion. In December 2025, it halted review of products with exposure above 2x and sent warning letters to nine issuers, including ProShares. In March 2026, it asked issuers to avoid 5x products.
Volatility Shares still kept rolling out 2x funds. In April 2026, the firm launched 2x products tied to Cardano, Stellar, and Chainlink, adding to existing 2x funds linked to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP.
Not the first 3x products, and no launch date yet
These are not the first 3x products mentioned in the order. Earlier funds from other issuers tied to silver, crude oil, and natural gas have since left the market. A separate 3x gold product from another issuer is still trading.
The SEC’s order does not provide a launch date. According to Cboe’s filing, the shares cannot begin trading until each fund’s registration statement becomes effective.