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— CH. 1 · INTRODUCTION —

ProShares

1 min listen · Ch. 1 of 2
2 sections

  • ProShares traces its origins to 1997, when Louis Mayberg and Michael Sapir put up $100,000 to found a company called ProFunds Group. Both men were former employees of Rydex, a fund company, and they built ProFunds Group around investors who expected stock markets to decline. That first year, the company launched bear market inverse mutual funds. What that specific focus eventually led the company to build is the question the rest of the story answers.

  • In 2006, ProFunds Group launched ProShares and introduced its first inverse exchange-traded fund. In October 2021, ProShares launched a fund that invests in Bitcoin futures contracts. Two years later, on the 2nd of October 2023, ProShares released three Ethereum Futures ETFs in the United States. That release placed the company among the first in American history to offer an Ethereum ETF. The two cryptocurrency launches gave ProShares ETF positions across two distinct digital asset markets. How ProShares' position in cryptocurrency ETF markets continues to develop is a story that runs past the 2nd of October 2023.

Common questions

When was ProShares launched?

ProShares was launched in 2006 by ProFunds Group, the company founded by Louis Mayberg and Michael Sapir in 1997. The launch introduced the company's first inverse exchange-traded fund.

Who founded ProFunds Group, the parent company of ProShares?

ProFunds Group was founded in 1997 by Louis Mayberg and Michael Sapir, both former employees of Rydex, a fund company. They started the company with $100,000.

What were the first products ProFunds Group offered before launching ProShares?

ProFunds Group introduced bear market inverse mutual funds in 1997, the same year the company was founded. These products were built to generate returns when stock markets declined.

What was ProShares' Bitcoin ETF and when did it launch?

ProShares launched an exchange-traded fund that invests in Bitcoin futures contracts in October 2021. Two years later, the company released three Ethereum Futures ETFs in the United States.

When did ProShares launch its Ethereum Futures ETFs?

ProShares launched three Ethereum Futures ETFs in the United States on the 2nd of October 2023. The company became one of the first in American history to offer an Ethereum ETF.

Is ProShares one of the first companies to offer an Ethereum ETF in the United States?

ProShares is among the first companies in US history to launch an Ethereum ETF. It released three Ethereum Futures ETFs on the 2nd of October 2023.

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All sources

9 references cited across the entry

  1. 1How The Parts Add Up: The ProShares UltraPro QQQ ETF Targets $67September 3, 2019
  2. 2NewsFormer Rydex Employees Launch Competing Mutual-Fund FamiliesJulie Creswell — December 12, 1997
  3. 3NewsDialing Up DollarsJ. R. Brandstrader — April 6, 1998
  4. 4NewsInverse ETFs on Market's Good SideBilly Fisher — August 26, 2008
  5. 5NewsProFunds prepares first leveraged ETFsJohn Spence — May 29, 2006
  6. 6NewsBuild Your Own Hedge FundJune 1, 2007
  7. 7Press releaseProShares to Launch the First U.S. Bitcoin-Linked ETF on October 19ProShares — October 18, 2021
  8. 8NewsBitcoin-based fund's expected launch will make it easier for investors to buy a stake in cryptoTory Newmyer — October 19, 2021
  9. 9Ethereum ETFs: 7 New Ethereum ETFs launched COINOTAG2 October 2023