- ProShares is seeking SEC approval to launch a metaverse-focused ETF.
- If approved by regulators, the proposed fund will track the performance of companies like Apple and Meta.
- Two Canadian firms listed metaverse ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange in November.
ProShares, the first investment firm to offer a bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund in the US, is looking to launch a metaverse ETF, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing published Tuesday.
If permitted by regulators, it will track the performance of the Solactive Metaverse Theme index, which includes companies involved in the adoption and usage of metaverse-related technologies, the filing showed.
ProShares said the index consists of US companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq that meet certain market capitalization and liquidity requirements. Apple, Amazon, Meta, Nvidia, and Activision Blizzard are some of its holdings.
The company described the metaverse as a reference to "internet-based interactions, engagements, and transactions made in immersive, persistent, and shared virtual or physical spaces."
Excitement has been building around the potential of the metaverse, a futuristic virtual landscape in which plots of land have sold for millions of dollars. Morgan Stanley has said the metaverse holds an $8 trillion opportunity in the US.
Meanwhile, brands like Microsoft and Bumble are racing to build digital worlds broadly based on blockchain technology, which are tailor-made environments for cryptocurrencies to meet transactional needs. The emerging industry boasts of high-profile backers from traditional finance like Alan Howard, and tech natives including Masayoshi Son and Justin Sun who are betting big on the metaverse as they see younger generations doing the same.
Global metaverse-focused ETF assets have grown to $2.2 billion as of December 28, with most funds launching in the last quarter alone, according to Bloomberg.
Late last month, two Canadian firms Evolve Funds and Horizons ETF Management were the first to launch their metaverse ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Like the ProShares ETF, Horizons' fund tracks the Solactive Metaverse Theme index.
ProShares is among a handful of firms approved to trade a futures-based bitcoin ETF in the US. Its Bitcoin Strategy ETF became the fastest to top $1 billion in assets under management, reaching that level after just two days of trading.