Editorial produced in partnership with Defiance ETFs · April 27, 2026
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Trade QQQ with leverageApril 14 — World Quantum Day — has become the quantum industry’s annual marketing moment, and this year NVIDIA made sure it was the main event. The chipmaker used the date to unveil NVIDIA Ising, its first open-source family of AI models purpose-built for quantum computing, alongside an expansion of the NVQLink architecture that links GPUs to quantum processors. Shares of the publicly traded quantum pure-plays responded immediately: IonQ (IONQ) closed up roughly 20% on April 15, D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) jumped more than 22%, and Rigetti Computing (RGTI) climbed more than 13%.1 Over the broader week, the four pure-plays in the Defiance 2X Daily Long Pure Quantum ETF (QPUX) target basket — IONQ, RGTI, QBTS, and Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT) — each saw weekly moves above 30%.2 The Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM), which seeks to track the total return performance, before fees and expenses, of the BlueStar® Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index, closed at $125.83 on April 16 — within pennies of a new 52-week high.3
For investors who treat quantum computing as a multi-year structural theme, the week is a useful reminder of how quickly sentiment can shift when a well-capitalized player moves. For active traders, it’s a reminder that the pure-play names are capable of outsized daily moves in both directions. Defiance ETFs offers vehicles for both audiences: QTUM for diversified thematic exposure, and a trio of leveraged daily-reset ETFs — (QPUX), (RGTX), and (IONX) — designed for tactical, short-horizon use.
Inside Quantum Week: What NVIDIA Actually Announced
NVIDIA’s Ising family is the first open-source AI model suite built specifically for quantum workloads. According to NVIDIA (NVDA), the release includes two components: Ising Calibration, a vision-language model for interpreting measurements from quantum processors and recommending calibration actions, and Ising Decoding, a 3D convolutional neural network for real-time quantum error correction. NVIDIA describes Ising Decoding as delivering up to 2.5x faster performance and 3x higher accuracy than pyMatching, the current open-source industry standard for error-correction decoding.4 Early adopters listed in the launch release include Harvard, Cornell, IonQ, Infleqtion, IQM Quantum Computers, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Advanced Quantum Testbed, and Sandia National Laboratories.4
NVIDIA also updated its NVQLink QPU-to-GPU interconnect architecture, which the company now says supports 17 quantum-processor builders, five quantum control-system builders, and nine U.S. national labs.5 The practical message is a continuation of a theme that CEO Jensen Huang has pushed repeatedly since 2024: quantum computers will not replace classical supercomputers; they will be tightly coupled to them.
Two other Quantum Week items reinforced the rally. IonQ was awarded a contract under DARPA’s Heterogeneous Architectures for Quantum (HARQ) program on April 14, focused on photonic interconnects for networked quantum systems, and announced on the same day that it had photonically interconnected two independent trapped-ion quantum computers — a technical step toward distributed quantum computing.6 IonQ trading volume on April 15 reached roughly 85 million shares versus a three-month average near 22 million.7
QTUM: A Diversified Window Into the Quantum + AI Infrastructure Theme
The Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM) takes a different approach from the pure-play basket. QTUM seeks to track the BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index using a modified equal-weight methodology, holding approximately 85 securities with individual position sizes capped near 2%.8 The fund launched on September 4, 2018, carries an expense ratio of 0.40%, and held $3.77 billion in assets as of April 14, 2026.3 Morningstar assigned QTUM an Overall 5-star rating as of March 31, 2026, ranked among 221 funds in the U.S. Fund Technology category (3-year) and 199 funds (5-year).9
QTUM’s top ten holdings as of April 14, 2026 illustrate the structural diversification — semiconductor equipment and memory manufacturers dominate the upper tier rather than quantum pure-plays:
| Holding | Ticker | % of Fund |
| Teradyne | TER | 2.03% |
| Micron Technology | MU | 2.00% |
| Tower Semiconductor | TSEM | 1.92% |
| Coherent Corp | COHR | 1.90% |
| Nokia | NOK | 1.89% |
| MKS Inc. | MKSI | 1.85% |
| Lam Research | LRCX | 1.83% |
| Intel | INTC | 1.77% |
| STMicroelectronics | STM | 1.77% |
| Onto Innovation | ONTO | 1.76% |
Source: Defiance ETFs / Robinhood, as of April 14, 2026. Fund holdings are subject to change at any time and should not be considered recommendations to buy or sell any security. For a complete list of current QTUM holdings, visit defianceetfs.com/qtum.10
The point of this structure is that QTUM is not a leveraged bet on IONQ, QBTS, RGTI, or QUBT. Those names appear in QTUM but are capped at roughly 2% each — they can contribute to returns without dictating the fund’s daily direction. Over the trailing 12 months through April 10, 2026, QTUM’s total return was approximately 70.2%, ahead of the S&P 500 by 38.3 percentage points over the same period.11 Standardized performance current to the most recent month-end is available at defianceetfs.com/qtum or by calling 833.333.9383.
The Defiance Leveraged Quantum Suite: QPUX, RGTX, and IONX
For active traders who want amplified daily exposure to the pure-play quantum names, Defiance offers a separate product category — leveraged single-stock and narrow-basket ETFs. These funds are structurally different from QTUM and are designed for a different investor.
| Ticker | Fund Name | Underlying / Target | Daily Objective |
| QPUX | Defiance 2X Daily Long Pure Quantum ETF | Equal-weighted basket: IONQ, RGTI, QBTS, QUBT | 200% of the daily performance of the Target Portfolio |
| RGTX | Defiance Daily Target 2X Long RGTI ETF | Rigetti Computing (RGTI) | 200% of the daily percentage change in RGTI |
| IONX | Defiance Daily Target 2X Long IONQ ETF | IonQ, Inc. (IONQ) | 200% of the daily percentage change in IONQ |
Source: Defiance ETFs. Each fund seeks daily leveraged (2X) exposure through derivatives, primarily swap agreements and listed options. QPUX launched on August 7, 2025; RGTX and IONX are part of Defiance’s Daily Target 2X single-stock suite. The expense ratio for RGTX, QPUX, and IONX is 1.29%.12
The core design is simple and well disclosed by Defiance in each fund’s prospectus: these ETFs target 200% of the daily percentage change of their underlying security or target portfolio. They reset every trading day. They use swaps and options to obtain exposure, not direct stock ownership. And, critically, none of them should be expected to deliver 2x the cumulative return of the underlying over any period longer than a single trading day.
Before Using Any Leveraged Single-Stock ETF: Understand the Math
Leveraged single-stock ETFs are among the most aggressive products available to U.S. retail investors, and both FINRA and the SEC have issued investor alerts specifically about this product category. Anyone considering QPUX, RGTX, or IONX should understand three specific risks before acting.
- Daily reset and compounding decay. Because these funds reset to the target leverage ratio every day, their returns over multi-day periods depend on the path of the underlying price, not just the start and end points. In choppy or volatile markets, a 2X daily ETF can lose money even when the underlying stock is flat over the full period. This effect is larger the more volatile the underlying is — and the underlying stocks here (IONQ, RGTI, QBTS, QUBT) are among the most volatile securities in the U.S. market.
- A full loss is possible in a single day. The Defiance IONX and RGTX prospectuses state plainly that “an investor could lose the full principal value of his/her investment within a single day.”13 A one-day 50% drop in the underlying stock translates mathematically to a 100% loss for the fund before fees. The pure-play quantum stocks have historically moved 20-30% on single news events, so this is not a theoretical risk.
- Volatility has already produced reverse splits. Tidal Financial Group and Defiance ETFs announced reverse stock splits for 24 of the firm’s ETFs in announcements dated February 26 and March 12, 2026. Reverse splits are a routine mechanical response to share-price decay in leveraged products held through volatile periods — and the 52-week trading range on RGTX of $3.73 to $125.45 is a direct illustration of how sharp that decay can be.14
The Defiance prospectus language for these products is explicit: “The Fund is not suitable for all investors. The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged (2X) investment results, understand the risks associated with the use of leverage, and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently.”13 Put differently: these are trading tools, not long-term holdings.
Broader Risks to the Quantum Theme Itself
Even investors using QTUM as a diversified thematic position should understand the limitations of the sector. Quantum computing remains pre-revenue for most of the pure-play issuers. IBM (IBM) has publicly targeted fault-tolerant quantum computing by 2029, and Google (GOOGL) has indicated a similar late-decade target for a useful error-corrected machine — timelines that could slip. Valuations on the pure-plays remain elevated on a price-to-sales basis relative to current revenue, which means sentiment shifts can move share prices sharply in both directions. Finally, QTUM’s 100% technology sector allocation offers no cross-sector diversification; a broad tech-sector drawdown would affect the entire portfolio.
The Bottom Line
Quantum Week 2026 showed both sides of this theme. On the structural side, NVIDIA’s Ising release and the NVQLink expansion suggest that classical-quantum integration is moving from slide decks to production software stacks — a long-horizon development that benefits the broad semiconductor and AI-infrastructure names that dominate QTUM’s top holdings. On the tactical side, a single week of news can produce moves of 20%+ in the quantum pure-plays, which is exactly the environment where leveraged daily-reset products like QPUX, RGTX, and IONX were designed to be used — by active traders, with active monitoring, and over short time horizons.
Investors considering exposure to the quantum theme may want to evaluate which of these objectives — broad thematic participation, amplified tactical exposure, or neither — fits their own risk tolerance, time horizon, and portfolio construction. A conversation with a qualified financial professional is worth having before allocating capital to any of these products.
Explore More Defiance ETFs
Defiance’s thematic lineup extends beyond quantum. Investors interested in adjacent high-conviction themes may want to look at (AIPO) (Defiance AI Power & Infrastructure ETF) for exposure to the data-center power and grid buildout, (JEDI) (Defiance Drone & Modern Warfare ETF) for defense-technology and autonomous-systems exposure, and (ONDL) (Defiance Daily Target 2X Long ONDS ETF) for another example of Defiance’s single-stock leveraged suite. Fund details and current holdings are available at defianceetfs.com.
Sources
1. CNBC, “Quantum stocks surge on Nvidia AI model announcement,” April 16, 2026.
2. Based on weekly price action for IONQ, RGTI, QBTS, and QUBT as reported by CNBC and Forex News by FX Leaders, April 14–16, 2026.
3. Robinhood QTUM quote page, data as of April 14, 2026; closing price of $125.83 as of April 16, 2026.
4. NVIDIA Newsroom and TheQuantumInsider, “NVIDIA Launches Ising, the World’s First Open AI Models to Accelerate the Path to Useful Quantum Computers,” April 14, 2026.
5. NVIDIA Newsroom, “NVIDIA Introduces NVQLink — Connecting Quantum and GPU Computing for 17 Quantum Builders and Nine Scientific Labs,” updated April 2026.
6. IonQ press release via BusinessWire, “IonQ Selected for DARPA’s Heterogeneous Architectures for Quantum (HARQ) Program,” April 14, 2026; Quantum Computing Report, April 14, 2026.
7. Forex News by FX Leaders, “IonQ Soars 21% as DARPA Contract and Quantum Networking Breakthrough Ignite Sector Rally,” April 16, 2026.
8. Defiance ETFs QTUM fund page, defianceetfs.com/qtum, as of April 17, 2026.
9. Defiance ETFs QTUM fund page, Morningstar Overall Rating, as of March 31, 2026.
10. QTUM full holdings: defianceetfs.com/qtum-full-holdings/, as of April 15, 2026.
11. The Motley Fool, “BFI Infinity Ltd. Initiates Stake in Defiance Quantum ETF,” April 15, 2026, referencing trailing one-year performance as of April 10, 2026.
12. Defiance ETFs QPUX, RGTX, and IONX fund pages; Yahoo Finance RGTX quote page for expense ratio; GlobeNewswire, August 7, 2025, for QPUX launch.
13. Defiance ETFs RGTX and IONX fund pages, risk disclosure language, as of April 16, 2026.
14. Tidal Financial Group and Defiance ETFs press releases via GlobeNewswire, February 26, 2026 and March 12, 2026; RGTX 52-week range per Yahoo Finance and stockanalysis.com.
Important Performance and Holdings Disclosures
The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. Performance current to the most recent month-end can be obtained by calling 833.333.9383. Short-term performance, in particular, is not a good indication of the fund’s future performance, and an investment should not be made based solely on returns.
For standardized performance current to the most recent month-end, please visit the fund pages: defianceetfs.com/qtum, defianceetfs.com/qpux, defianceetfs.com/rgtx, and defianceetfs.com/ionx.
Fund holdings are subject to change at any time and should not be considered recommendations to buy or sell any security. For complete lists of current holdings, visit the respective fund pages.
Disclosures
Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Funds before investing. To obtain a prospectus containing this and other important information, please call 833.333.9383 or visit defianceetfs.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Index Definitions
The BlueStar Quantum Computing and Machine Learning Index (ticker: BQTUM) is a modified equal-weighted index designed to measure the performance of the globally listed companies that generate meaningful revenue from quantum computing, machine learning, and related technologies. You cannot invest directly in an index.
Principal Risks of Investing in the Funds
QTUM — Principal Risks: Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The Fund is subject to numerous risks including but not limited to: Equity Risk, Large Cap Risk, Small and Mid Cap Risk, Foreign Security Risk, Emerging Market Risk, Quantum Computing Company Risk, Machine Learning Company Risk, Technology Sector Risk, Non-Diversification Risk, and Concentration Risk. The Fund is non-diversified.
QPUX, RGTX, and IONX — Additional Principal Risks for Leveraged ETFs: These Funds seek daily leveraged (2X) investment results. They are riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage, are very different from most other exchange-traded funds, and are not suitable for all investors. The Funds are designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged investment results, understand the risks associated with the use of leverage, and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. An investor could lose the full principal value of his/her investment within a single day. For periods longer than a single day, each Fund will lose money if the Underlying Security’s performance is flat, and it is possible that each Fund will lose money even if the Underlying Security’s performance increases over a period longer than a single day. Additional risks include, but are not limited to: Derivatives Risk, Swap Agreement Risk, Listed Options Risk, Counterparty Risk, Daily Correlation Risk, Compounding and Market Volatility Risk, Tax Risk, Liquidity Risk, Single Security Risk (RGTX, IONX), Concentration Risk, and Non-Diversification Risk. An investment in QPUX is not an investment in IONQ, RGTI, QBTS, or QUBT; an investment in RGTX is not an investment in RGTI; and an investment in IONX is not an investment in IONQ.
Distributor
Defiance ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC, which is not affiliated with Defiance ETFs or Tidal Investments LLC.
The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or “star rating”, is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product’s monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three- year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.
Editorial Disclosure
This article is sponsored content created in partnership with Defiance ETFs. It is intended for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Investors should consider their own financial situation, risk tolerance, and investment objectives before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Please read each fund’s prospectus carefully before investing. For full fund details, visit defianceetfs.com.