ProShares' stablecoin-ready ETF generates record $17 billion in day-one trading volume

A GENIUS Act-inspired money market exchange-traded fund has set a new record for first-day trading volume.

The ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF (NYSE: IQMM) genereated $17 billion on Thursday. IQMM is structured to hold assets that meet the legal reserve requirements for dollar-backed stablecoins in the U.S. The fund aligns with the GENIUS Act, signed into law last July, which mandates that stablecoin issuers maintain 1:1 backing with safe, highly liquid assets such as U.S. Treasury bills.

"That is multitudes beyond the all-time record for an ETF," Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said Friday on X. "I was wrong about this ETF, I just figured it would be niche at best as ppl would use $BIL or $SHV as money mkt subs."

For context, Balchunas noted that BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), which debuted in January 2024, did $1 billion in day-one volume. He also posited that this could be a case of "BYOA" ETF strategy — a practice in which large asset managers direct client capital into their own proprietary products rather than competing funds ("bring your own assets").

Crypto's $300 billion stablecoin supply is increasingly used as "everyday money," a study conducted in partnership with Coinbase and Artemis showed. Holders allocate about a third of their savings to crypto and stablecoins, "signaling a shift from speculation to core wealth allocation."

Meanwhile, crypto advocates and banking groups met Thursday to continue negotiations over how stablecoin yields continue to shape the fate of a broader crypto market structure bill.