3 ETFs To Play Bitcoin’s “Acceleration” Phase in July

Bitcoin is just starting to accelerate higher again.

At the start of 2024, the digital currency traded at $42,280. Today, it’s up to $107,338 and could run even higher on retail, government, and institutional interest.

Helping, the U.S. Senate just passed a landmark bill to regulate cryptocurrency, which creates a path for digital assets to go mainstream.

Key Points About This Article 

• The U.S. Senate just passed a landmark bill to regulate cryptocurrency, which creates a path for digital assets to go mainstream.
• Standard Chartered believes Bitcoin could rally to $200,000 this year, and to $500,000 during President Trump’s presidency.
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According to USA Today, “The 68-30 vote reflects a major victory for the crypto industry, which has been aggressively lobbying Congress on the legislation. The bill next must be approved by the Republican-led House before Trump can sign it into law.”

The House could vote on it the week of July 7.

Plus, we’re just starting to see states, like Texas, fund a strategic reserve.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law in June. And, as noted by InsideScoop.com, “A handful of state legislatures have made similar proposals that would allow their governments to buy and hold bitcoin and other digital assets, and two other states — Arizona and New Hampshire — have passed legislation to create their own crypto reserves, but Texas is the first to fund one with state dollars, and leaders in Austin want the world to know it.”

Fueling more excitement, Standard Chartered believes Bitcoin could rally to $200,000 this year, and to $500,000 during President Trump’s presidency.

That being said, investors may want to invest directly in Bitcoin. And, or even indirectly, in related stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). That includes:

ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF 

If you believe the value of BTC will push higher, invest in the Pro Shares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (NYSE ARCA: BITO).  With an expense ratio of 0.95%, the ETF tracks the performance of spot Bitcoin. It’s also the world’s largest and most actively traded cryptocurrency ETF, according to ProShares.

BITO mimics the price of Bitcoin as closely as possible without investing in the cryptocurrency itself. As noted by Money, “Like all crypto ETFs, part of the allure of BITO is that investors don’t need to deal with cryptocurrency wallets and private keys but can instead invest through a broker they already use.”

With the latest rally, the BITO ETF ran from about $15.31 to a recent high of $21.37. From here, we’d like to see the BITO ETF rally to at least $30.

Or, if you believe the value of Bitcoin could slip, investors could also jump into ProShares Short Bitcoin (NYSEARCA: BITI), which tracks the S&P CME Bitcoin Futures Index, with profitability computed daily (before fees and expenses) as the inverse (-1x) of the index’s daily performance. 

YieldMax Bitcoin Option Income Strategy ETF 

With an expense ratio of 0.99% and a yield of 1.54%, the YieldMax Bitcoin Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA: YBIT) does not invest directly in Bitcoin.

Instead, it will 0generate current income via a synthetic covered call strategy on one or more select U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETPs – a category of investment vehicle that is generally backed by an asset such as gold, a commodity, or a crypto token. 

The best part – you don’t need to know much about options to buy the YBIT, which ran from about $7 in September 2024 to $10.55.  It also just paid a dividend of just over 33 cents on June 13 to shareholders of record as of June 12. Before that, it paid a dividend of just under 87 cents on May 16 to shareholders of record as of May 15.

ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF  

We can also take a look at the ARK21 Shares Bitcoin ETF (BATS: ARKB).

With an expense ratio of 0.21%, the ETF tracks the performance of bitcoin, as measured by the performance of the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate – New York Variant. In addition, ARKB provides exposure to bitcoin, which is kept in cold storage by one of the largest crypto custodians, offering greater protection than custody options available to individual investors.

Since bottoming out at around $25 in April, the ARKB ETF rallied to $35.53. From here, we’d like to see the ARKB ETF rally to $50 initially.

Other than these Bitcoin ETFs, there’s also the iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ: IBIT), Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (NYSEARCA: GBTC), Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: BITB), VanEck Bitcoin ETF (BATS: HODL), and the ProShares Ultra Bitcoin ETF (NYSEARCA: BITU).