ProShares Plans To Launch ETF Focused On Metaverse

Metaverse and Bitcoin are increasingly gaining worldwide attention. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA – ProShares, the first company in the United States to launch a Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), is jumping into the metaverse as it now plans to launch a new ETF focused on the metaverse.

ProShares on Tuesday, December 28 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for a metaverse-focused ETF, called the ProShares Metaverse Theme ETF.

Subject to SEC approval, the proposed ETF will track the performance of the Solactive Metaverse Theme Index (SOMETAV), which consists of companies providing or using metaverse-related technologies, including metaverse data processing and tools, read the ETF prospectus.

The index includes US companies that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market and meets certain market capitalization and liquidity requirements, ProShares said. Electronics giants like Apple and Nvidia as well as social media like Meta, formerly Facebook, are reportedly among the top components of the index.

The filing of the ProShares metaverse ETF comes at a time when global companies are increasingly venturing into the metaverse and nonfungible token (NFT) industry.

On November 29, two Canadian companies, Evolve Funds Group and Horizons ETFs Management, began trading their metaverse ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Similar to the ProShares Metaverse Theme ETF, the Horizons Global Metaverse Index ETF tracks SOMETAV.

Metaverses are increasingly emerging as one of the biggest tech trends of 2021 as Facebook officially announced its metaverse strategy by rebranding its product to Meta in October.

The metaverse concept is based on an online virtual environment featuring various functions, such as communicating, playing games, trading digital and NFT collections, attending events, and others, facilitated through common devices or virtual and augmented reality headsets.

According to a study by Reports and Data, the global metaverse market was worth 48 billion US dollars (IDR 683.8 trillion) in 2020 and is expected to reach 872 billion US dollars (IDR 11.7 quadrillion) by 2028, posting revenue at a growth rate combined annual rate of 44%.