This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
GraniteShares’ leveraged bet against Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) has just met its match. The firm’s 3x Short AMD exchange-traded product, listed in London and Italy, was terminated this week after AMD shares jumped as much as 38%, driving the fund’s value to zero. The product had gathered roughly $3 million in assets and aimed to deliver triple the inverse of AMD’s daily performance. GraniteShares confirmed on its website that no redemption payments will be made and trading has been suspended ahead of delisting. The incident lands at a sensitive time for the ETF industry, where appetite for amplified single-stock exposure is rising even as regulators question its systemic risks.
That appetite is now crossing the Atlantic. GraniteShares, Defiance ETFs, ProShares, and Direxion have all filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch new leveraged products targeting some of the market’s most volatile trades. Among the planned launches are 3x long and short versions tied to Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), as well as crypto-linked funds tracking Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana. While 2x funds have gained traction with U.S. investors, these new 3x products would push far closer to the edge of the SEC’s volatility limitsa step that could reshape how retail investors access leverage in high-momentum sectors.
Analysts say the GraniteShares implosion could be a preview of what’s to come if these products reach the U.S. market. Single-stock blowups are practically inevitable, noted Todd Sohn of Strategas Securities, suggesting that the only question is when one might occur in America’s much larger trading arena. Bloomberg Intelligence’s Athanasios Psarofagis echoed that the episode shows how a 3x ETF can be wiped out overnight, but added that such risks may do little to cool investor enthusiasm for leveraged plays. In a market still addicted to speed, the GraniteShares event could be an early warning shot of just how volatile the next wave of products might become.
