Cboe has asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to list exchange-traded funds offering triple-leveraged exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum, a step that would introduce the most heavily leveraged crypto ETFs yet available to U.S. investors. The proposed funds would deliver 3x exposure through futures-based products rather than spot holdings, and the request remains pending regulatory review and unapproved.

What Cboe is asking the SEC to approve

Cboe has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list futures ETFs offering 3x leveraged exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to the exchange's rule filing submitted through the SEC. The request is pending regulatory review and has not been approved.

The products are structured around futures contracts, not spot Bitcoin or Ether. That distinction matters: the funds would track leveraged futures positions rather than hold the underlying tokens directly, a design already used for existing leveraged crypto ETFs.

The filing was routed through Cboe's BZX exchange, whose rule filings are subject to the SEC's self-regulatory organization review process. BZX already serves as the listing venue for a number of U.S. spot crypto ETFs, so the 3x request extends an existing crypto listing franchise rather than opening a new one. Under the standard review process, the SEC generally has 45 days after a proposed rule change is published in the Federal Register to approve or disapprove it, with the option to extend that period, a timeline that becomes the next observable milestone once the filing is docketed. Approval is not guaranteed, and the request remains a proposal at this stage.

Why Volatility Shares' existing 2x ETH fund matters

The push for 3x products follows attention on Volatility Shares' existing 2x Ethereum fund, which offers double-leveraged exposure to Ether futures. Details on that product are published on the issuer's fund page.

The relevance is straightforward: a 2x leveraged Ethereum futures fund already trades in the U.S. market, establishing both a regulatory precedent and evidence of investor appetite for leveraged crypto wrappers. Cboe's 3x request steps up that leverage.

Interest in leveraged crypto exposure sits alongside broader growth in regulated crypto products, from spot vehicles to derivatives. CME Group's move to launch 24/7 Bitcoin and Ethereum futures and options trading reflects the same demand for continuous, leveraged access to the two largest crypto assets.

What 3x approval could mean for competition and traders

Moving from a 2x example to 3x exposure amplifies both potential gains and losses. Triple-leveraged funds are more sensitive to daily price swings in the underlying futures, magnifying downside risk as well as upside.

That sensitivity is a function of how such funds are built. Leveraged ETFs typically reset their exposure each trading day, which means results over holding periods longer than a day can diverge from a simple multiple of the underlying asset's performance over the same stretch, a characteristic that leveraged-fund issuers themselves flag in product disclosures when describing the funds as geared toward short-term use rather than long-term holding.

The request covering both Bitcoin and Ethereum points to intensifying competition among issuers and exchanges packaging leveraged crypto products. The same competitive dynamic has played out across spot vehicles, including after the SEC approved new standards for cryptocurrency ETFs.

Cboe's application was reported as the first U.S. filing for 3x Bitcoin and Ether ETFs by The Block. The SEC has not set a public decision date, and the outcome depends on its review of the filing.