ProShares launches first short ETH Futures ETF

ProShares has announced the launch of the first Ethereum (ETH) linked exchange traded fund that allows investors take bearish positions on the price of ETH.

The company unveiled its ProShares Short Ether Strategy ETF with a ticker SETH on Thursday, adding it to the host of recently launched Ethereum ETFs.

First short Ethereum ETF

The ETF will deliver the inverse of the daily performance of the Standard & Poor's CME Ether Futures Index. SETH is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and exposure is via Ether futures contracts, as opposed to the spot price of ETH.

ProShares CEO Michael L. Sapir said in a statement that the short Ethereum ETF is meant to help investors surmount the “challenge of acquiring short exposure to ether,” noting that this can “onerous and expensive. Sapir added:

ProShares’ launch of a short Ether ETF comes a few weeks after the debut of the first ETH futures ETFs. In early October, Proshares debuted the ProShares Ether Strategy ETF (EETH), Bitcoin & Ether Equal Weight Strategy ETF (BETE) and Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight Strategy ETF (BETH).

While EETH only offers exposure to Etherum, BETE and BETH combine exposure to both Ethereum and Bitcoin. At the moment, the crypto industry awaits the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Ethereum price today

In the market, Ethereum spot price was just in the green above $1,800, up 0.8% in the past 24 hours and nearly 18% in the past two weeks. According to data from CoinGecko, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap was 62% down since its all-time high above $4,878 reached in May 2021.