ProShares has launched a new money market ETF that is built to meet U.S. stablecoin reserve rules under the GENIUS Act.
Quick Summary – TLDR:
- ProShares launched IQMM, a money market ETF designed to hold assets that qualify as stablecoin reserves under the GENIUS Act.
- The fund invests only in cash and short duration U.S. government instruments, capped at 93 days to match the law’s requirements.
- IQMM uses a market based NAV instead of a fixed one dollar NAV, aiming to support transparent reserve reporting for issuers.
- The launch arrives as stablecoins keep growing, with big issuers and traditional finance firms looking for more regulated reserve infrastructure.
What Happened?
ProShares began trading the ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF on Thursday under the ticker IQMM on NYSE Arca. The ETF is structured around the GENIUS Act rule that dollar backed stablecoins must be supported one for one by safe, liquid reserve assets like cash and short maturity U.S. Treasury securities.
📌 @ProShares launches GENIUS Money Market ETF (IQMM)
— CryptoPotato Official (@Crypto_Potato) February 19, 2026
ProShares announced the GENIUS Money Market ETF (ticker: IQMM), positioned as a money market ETF designed to hold eligible reserve assets aligned with the GENIUS Act framework and potentially serve as a reserve vehicle for… pic.twitter.com/B31wn96EbS
Why IQMM Exists?
The GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025 under President Donald Trump, created a federal framework for payment stablecoins in the United States. One of its core requirements is simple: if a stablecoin issuer has one dollar worth of tokens in circulation, it needs one dollar worth of qualifying reserves to match it.
That is where IQMM is trying to fit. ProShares says the fund is designed to hold only instruments that qualify as eligible reserves under the law. The big constraint is liquidity and time to maturity. The statute restricts reserve assets to highly liquid instruments, including U.S. Treasury bills with maturities of 93 days or less. IQMM is built around that limit.
In practice, this means the ETF is positioned as a ready made reserve parking spot for stablecoin issuers that want compliance without running their own direct Treasury portfolio.
What the ETF Holds?
According to the fund’s structure and prospectus details cited in coverage, IQMM invests 100 percent of its assets in reserve eligible instruments. That basket includes:
- Treasury bills
- Treasury notes within the maturity limit
- Overnight repurchase agreements
- Cash
The maturity cap matters because it reduces the chance that a reserve manager has to sell longer dated bonds at a loss during stressed markets. By keeping holdings very short, the fund aims to better support daily redemption needs, which is the key pressure point for any stablecoin that promises quick one for one cash outs.
ProShares also framed this as a conservative liquidity strategy designed to meet the real world expectations stablecoin issuers face when users move quickly in and out of tokens.
Transparency Angle: Market Based NAV and Reserve Reporting
IQMM is organized under Rule 2a 7, the rule set that governs government money market funds. But it differs from traditional money market funds in a key way. It does not try to keep a fixed one dollar net asset value. Instead, ProShares uses a market based NAV calculated from the value of the underlying securities.
That matters for stablecoin issuers that have to certify reserves. The market based approach is meant to provide cleaner transparency and pricing, which can help when issuers are required to submit accurate reserve certifications each month.
ProShares CEO Michael Sapir emphasized the appeal of liquidity and transparency inside an ETF wrapper. “History shows that investors gravitate toward vehicles that offer transparency, efficiency, and liquidity,” he said.
Who This Is For?
Market watchers framed IQMM as an institutional tool aimed at stablecoin treasury managers. Coverage pointed to major issuers like Ripple, Tether, and Circle as the kind of players that could use a product like this to manage legally required reserves in a more standardized way.
One clear pitch is operational simplicity. Instead of building internal systems to buy and roll short Treasury exposure, issuers could outsource reserve management into a regulated ETF structure built to match the statute’s duration and liquidity requirements.
ProShares is also pricing it like a mainstream cash product. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.15 percent and distributes income weekly.
Stablecoins Are Growing Fast and Reserve Plumbing Is Catching Up
The timing is not an accident. Stablecoins have become a major part of crypto market plumbing and payment flows. Recent figures cited in reporting say the combined market capitalization of USDT and USDC has topped 250 billion dollars, while stablecoin transactions hit 33 trillion dollars in 2025.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has projected the stablecoin market could reach 3 trillion dollars by 2030, a level that would dramatically expand demand for compliant reserve assets and the infrastructure that holds them.
Since the GENIUS Act became law, more institutions have signaled they want in. Reporting also points to moves like Fidelity launching a stablecoin called FIDD, and major banks including Citi and Bank of America reportedly exploring their own stablecoin plans.
SQ Magazine Takeaway
I see IQMM as a simple but important step toward making stablecoins feel less like a crypto side quest and more like a regulated financial product with real guardrails. If stablecoins are going to scale, the reserve layer has to be boring, predictable, and easy to audit. This ETF is basically ProShares saying, let us handle the boring part. And honestly, that is probably what the market needs if regulators are serious about one for one backing and issuers are serious about winning trust.
