ProShares Debuts IQMM: Building the Infrastructure for the Stablecoin Era

The Catalyst: The GENIUS Act of 2025

The launch of IQMM is a direct response to the GENIUS Act, a landmark piece of U.S. legislation signed into law in July 2025.

As the first comprehensive federal framework for stablecoins, the Act transformed how digital assets are backed.

Under the new law, stablecoin issuers are required to maintain 100 percent of their reserves in highly liquid assets, such as cash or short-term U.S. Treasuries.

Beyond simple backing, the legislation mandates rigorous anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and provides legal priority to stablecoin holders in the event of an issuer’s failure.

By establishing a dedicated regulatory category for compliant stablecoins, the Act has drastically increased the demand for transparent, high-quality liquid assets (HQLA).

That demand translated quickly into scale, with IQMM becoming the largest money market ETF in the world¹.

Engineered for Stability and Liquidity

IQMM functions as a government money market ETF but with structural enhancements that align with the GENIUS Act’s strict liquidity requirements.

The fund invests exclusively in short-term U.S. Treasuries and cash, prioritizing capital preservation through a conservative maturity profile.

The portfolio focuses on securities with maturities of 93 days or less, maintaining a weighted average maturity of no more than 60 days.

To ensure the fund can meet sudden redemptions—a critical feature for stablecoin issuers—IQMM maintains high liquidity buffers.

At least 25 percent of the portfolio is held in daily liquid assets, while at least 50 percent is dedicated to weekly liquid assets.

Unlike traditional mutual funds, IQMM offers the intraday liquidity of an ETF, allowing it to be traded throughout the New York market session.

It also features a dual NAV (Net Asset Value) structure and same-day settlement, providing the operational precision required by institutional treasury desks managing large-scale digital reserves.

A Strategic Tool for the Modern Portfolio

While IQMM serves as a primary compliance tool for stablecoin issuers, its utility extends to a broader range of investors.

With a competitive net expense ratio of 0.15 percent, it offers a cost-efficient way for any investor to access the safety and income potential of U.S. Treasuries.

For financial advisors and individual investors, the fund acts as a flexible, high-credit-quality cash management tool. It distributes income on a weekly basis, providing a steady yield while maintaining the flexibility of an exchange-traded instrument.

As the boundaries between traditional banking and digital finance continue to blur, the ProShares GENIUS Money Market ETF represents a new generation of financial products—one that prioritizes transparency and regulatory alignment without sacrificing efficiency.

About ProShares

ProShares has been active in the ETF market since 2006 and now offers one of the industry’s largest product lineups, with more than $85 billion in assets. The firm is known for strategies spanning dividend growth, income, interest rate hedging, cryptocurrency exposure, and geared ETFs.

Together with its mutual fund affiliate ProFunds, the firm manages more than $95 billion in assets as of the end of 2025 and continues to develop tools designed to support risk management, income generation, and portfolio diversification.

Footnotes

1: IQMM fund page