Bitcoin hovered around $85,000 on Sunday as investors assessed the impact of U.S. regulators approving the first batch of 3x leveraged crypto exchange-traded products. As of 01:29 ET, Bitcoin was trading at $84,860.5, little changed over the past 24 hours, after briefly breaking above $87,000 earlier in the week.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday approved a rule change for CboeBZX Exchange, allowing it to list six triple-leveraged exchange-traded products from Volatility Shares, tracking the daily performance of Bitcoin, Ethereum, gold, silver, crude oil and natural gas respectively. Among them, the Bitcoin and Ethereum products will provide leveraged exposure through futures contracts rather than directly holding cryptocurrencies, aiming to deliver three times the daily price movement gains or losses of the underlying assets. This means that compliant investment tools for crypto assets in the U.S. market are further expanding. Previously, investors could already gain Bitcoin exposure through spot and futures-based products, while triple-leveraged ETPs further provide short-term and high-risk-appetite capital with a tool to amplify price fluctuations.
However, the SEC's approval does not mean these products can begin trading immediately. The relevant products still need to complete registration and other procedures before they can be officially offered to the public. The decision also comes against the backdrop of U.S. regulators continuing to adjust crypto asset rules. The SEC this week also proposed amendments to crypto asset custody rules, and related policy changes have recently been one of the main variables of concern in the Bitcoin market.
From an industry activity perspective, hiring in the crypto market has also rebounded. Data from CryptoJobsList shows that the number of crypto industry job postings reached 1,241 in September, up from 382 in July, with finance positions being the most numerous, followed by engineering and trading, while Bitcoin was the most frequently appearing blockchain skill in hiring demand. Artificial intelligence is also seen as a new variable that may drive demand for blockchain infrastructure in the future. As AI Agents gradually evolve from answering questions to autonomously executing transactions, open blockchains and stablecoins are being discussed as potential machine payment infrastructure. Some market participants believe that in the future, AI Agents may autonomously purchase computing power, data and other digital services, thereby generating machine-to-machine payment demand.
However, for the current market, the more direct factors affecting Bitcoin's price remain the regulatory environment and changes in capital access. The SEC allowing triple-leveraged crypto ETPs to enter the listing process means the U.S. market is further expanding the range of regulated crypto investment products. Although these products themselves will not immediately change Bitcoin's fundamental supply and demand, they can increase the channels for investors to engage in high-leverage directional trading, and may further amplify short-term volatility in Bitcoin's price in the future. Therefore, what is truly noteworthy about this event is not whether Bitcoin rises immediately on the day, but that U.S. crypto asset investment tools are continuing to expand from spot ETFs to more complex leveraged products, and the connection between traditional capital markets and the crypto market is deepening further.