US leveraged ETFs reach record $198B in assets as TQQQ and SOXL lead the charge

The US leveraged ETF market has ballooned to a record $198 billion in assets under management, a milestone that says as much about investor appetite for risk as it does about the AI-fueled bull run powering it. That figure is up from roughly $170 billion at the end of 2025, a nearly 16% jump in about six months.

Two funds are doing most of the heavy lifting: ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ) and Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares (SOXL). Both offer 3x daily leveraged exposure.

The two titans of leveraged trading

TQQQ, which tracks three times the daily return of the Nasdaq-100, sits at the top of the leveraged ETF food chain with assets in the range of $29 billion to $39 billion depending on the reporting date. It remains the single largest leveraged ETF in the US by a comfortable margin.

SOXL isn’t far behind in terms of cultural cachet, even if its asset base is smaller. The semiconductor-focused fund holds between $13 billion and $28 billion, with that wide range itself telling you something about how violently these products can swing. SOXL has posted year-to-date returns exceeding 50% in 2026, riding the wave of insatiable demand for chips tied to AI infrastructure buildouts.