The SEC approved on October 2, 2026, a rule change allowing Cboe BZX Exchange to list six VS Trust products with 3x daily exposure, covering Bitcoin, Ether, Gold, Silver, Crude Oil, and Natural Gas. The approval is contained in order 34-106577, filed under SR-CboeBZX-2026-065. Before reading too much into this, the order does one specific thing: it clears a listing rule. It does not launch trading, and it does not turn these instruments into a “triple Bitcoin” in any cumulative sense.
Here is what the SEC actually approved, why it said yes, what these products genuinely are, and why they cannot start trading yet.
What the SEC Actually Approved
The order approves a proposed rule amendment filed by Cboe BZX on August 10, 2026, and published for comment in the Federal Register on August 19. The SEC received zero public comments. The order was signed by the Division of Trading and Markets under delegated authority. Cboe needed this procedure because its existing rules for Commodity-Based Trust Shares exclude from standard listing any products targeting a multiple, or inverse multiple, of a benchmark's performance. The six funds meet every other listing requirement but fail specifically on leverage.
A terminological point matters here. The six funds carry “ETF” in their names, but footnote 5 of the order clarifies that these are Commodity-Based Trust Shares and therefore exchange-traded products, or ETPs: securities registered under the Securities Act that are not regulated as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The trust sponsor is Volatility Shares, the trustee is Wilmington Trust, and the custodian is U.S. Bank.
Why the SEC Said Yes
The SEC found the proposal consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act, which requires exchange rules designed to prevent fraud and manipulation and protect investors and the public interest, and with Section 11A(a)(1)(C)(iii) on the availability of quotation and transaction information. Three reasons drove the approval.
First: each of the six underlying assets is tied to a futures contract that has traded for at least six months on a CFTC-registered designated contract market (DCM), and Cboe holds surveillance-sharing agreements covering each one. Second: leveraged products on the same underlyings already trade. The order specifically cites the existing 2x Volatility Shares products on Bitcoin (BITX) and Ether (ETHU), noting that applying consistent standards to products with the same economic exposure levels the playing field among issuers. The order also references three previously listed 3x commodity products that are no longer trading, without explaining why they were delisted.
Third, on investor protection: the SEC is explicit that protection does not come from the order itself, but from existing rules on recommendations and advice. That means Regulation Best Interest for brokers recommending these products to retail clients, the fiduciary duty of advisers under the Investment Advisers Act, the enhanced sales practice and margin requirements FINRA imposes on leveraged and inverse securities, and Cboe's own suitability rules. The order evaluates whether the exchange's rule is consistent with securities law. It is not a judgment on whether these products are suitable for any individual investor.
What the Order Approves, and What It Does Not
The distinction that matters. Source: SEC, order 34-106577, October 2, 2026
- Approves: the rule allowing Cboe BZX to list and trade shares of the six funds.
- Does not set: a launch date. Per Cboe's own filing, the registration must first become effective.
- Does not replace: suitability and recommendation rules, which remain with brokers and advisers.
What These Products Actually Are: Not a Bitcoin Multiplier
According to the order, each fund targets daily results, gross of fees and expenses, equal to three times the daily performance of a benchmark composed of front-month and second-month futures on the underlying asset. The fund invests in those benchmark futures alongside cash and cash equivalents held as collateral or margin. If those contracts are unavailable due to price or position limits, the fund may use longer-dated futures, other ETFs or ETPs with exposure to the same underlying, or listed options. These are not funds that hold Bitcoin or Ether directly: they use derivatives. The Cboe notice adds that the sponsor adjusts the number of futures held in portfolio daily to maintain the target exposure.
The word “daily” changes outcomes over multi-day periods in ways that surprise many investors. Over four alternating sessions of +10% and -10%, Bitcoin finishes at -1.99% while a hypothetical 3x product falls to -17.19%, not the -5.97% a simple “multiply by three” calculation would suggest. In a trending market, two consecutive 10% gains produce +21% for Bitcoin and +69% for the 3x. The full worked examples are in our guide to 2x and 3x leveraged crypto ETFs. The point here is narrow: the SEC order does not change the nature of these instruments, and their description in the filing is that of products with a daily objective.
Why Trading Cannot Start Yet
The approval covers the listing rule, not the public offering. The order sets no launch date. It is Cboe's own notice, in footnote 8, that specifies the trust's registration under the Securities Act is not yet effective and that shares will not trade on the exchange until it becomes so. The notice also states that at least 100,000 shares of each fund must be outstanding before trading begins. At the time of writing, the sources we consulted reported neither an effective registration date nor a launch date for any of the six funds.
For European readers, one additional clarification applies. American retail products of this type are generally not purchasable by retail clients in the European Union, because they lack the Key Information Document (KID) required under the PRIIPs regulation. MiCA does not change this structural barrier for US-domiciled products.
Bitcoin and Ether Alongside Gold and Oil
The editorially significant detail in this order is the placement. Bitcoin and Ether receive no special treatment: they are two of six “Reference Commodities” in the order, sitting beside gold, silver, crude oil, and natural gas, all processed under the same Commodity-Based Trust Shares framework.
The Six Products and Their Reference Futures
COMEX, CME, and NYMEX are all part of the CME Group. Source: Cboe BZX notice of filing, 91 FR 53686
| Product | Underlying | Reference Futures |
|---|---|---|
| 3x Gold ETF | Gold | COMEX |
| 3x Silver ETF | Silver | COMEX |
| 3x Bitcoin ETF | Bitcoin | CME |
| 3x Ether ETF | Ether | CME |
| 3x Crude Oil ETF | Light sweet crude | NYMEX |
| 3x Natural Gas ETF | Natural gas | NYMEX |
The path to this order is cumulative. In September 2025, the SEC had approved generic listing standards for Commodity-Based Trust Shares. On July 29, 2026, per the Cboe notice, those standards were amended to permit actively managed products, add a definition of “digital commodity,” and allow up to 15% of a trust's net asset value to be composed of assets that do not meet the generic criteria. The October 2 order adds the leverage exception on top of that framework. Among the ETP precedents the order cites for transparency and surveillance parity is the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, approved by the SEC on May 29, 2026.
The Bigger Picture
Following spot ETFs, whose substantial inflows we covered separately, and after 2x products and income-generating crypto wrappers, the US regulated infrastructure is now extending to more sophisticated and higher-risk crypto instruments. The timing is striking. On October 1, one day before this order, the SEC had also published its proposed rule on crypto custody for advisers and funds. A few days earlier, the Federal Reserve had released its rules for bank-issued stablecoins. In under two weeks, the SEC and the Federal Reserve together added three components to the regulated perimeter around crypto products.
Two readings follow from all of this. The order is what it says it is: a clearance for a listing rule, with investor protections delegated to existing suitability and recommendation frameworks rather than embedded in the approval itself. Separately, the fact that Bitcoin and Ether are processed in the same order as gold and oil signals how crypto's entry into regulated finance increasingly runs through the standardized instruments of commodity markets, complete with their costs, their position limits, and their daily reset. Watch for the registration to become effective and for any announced launch date. For readers new to leveraged crypto products, our guide on what cryptocurrencies are provides a useful starting point.
