Bitcoin ETF That Debuted On New York Stock Exchange With Much Fanfare Is Now A Big Loser

A Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) just over a month ago to much fanfare. With greater engagement from Wall Street investors, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) began trading on the NYSE.

However, after its spectacular debut, the ETF has gone on to become a big loser. The ETF is now one of the 10 worst performers in terms of returns two months after being public, with a 30 percent drop, show a Bloomberg Intelligence data analysed by Athanasios Psarofagis.

The ETF, initially, began trading on October 19. Its share was priced at $40 then. At the end of Day 1 of trading, it had surpassed $1 billion in volumes, making it the second-best debut, only behind a fund that had pre-seed assets. But now, in this week alone, BITO is down near 9 percent, stated a Bloomberg report.

According to the report, Bitcoin, the world's largest and oldest cryptocurrency, lost more than 34 percent of its value since BITO's debut on October 19. The cryptocurrency had touched a peak of over $68,000 per coin in November and is now significantly down. The fund also set a new record by attracting $1 billion in assets in just two days.

Nonetheless, Psarofagis claims that the ETF's current performance will not necessarily have an impact on the industry's future growth. Reiterating this fact, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said that some other ETFs, too, had a rough start but can still raise assets.

The BITO ETF allows investors to invest in Bitcoins through a futures contract rather than purchasing them on a cryptocurrency exchange. In other words, instead of buying Bitcoin directly, investors will now be able to invest in a fund that tracks Bitcoin futures. By participating in this new ETF fund, investors are essentially betting on the ETF's shares increasing in value in the future. Bitcoins are the underlying driver of the value of this fund's shares.