The first ProShares exchange traded fund (ETF) with a bet on falling bitcoin (BTC) started to a very slow start when it launched on Tuesday, but Steam picked up as it saw a 380% increase in second day trading volume.
On the launch day on Tuesday, the ProShares Bitcoin Short Strategy ETF (BITI) traded 183,300 shares, which was note Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, tweeted that “less than 1% of the $ BITO volume was at that time on the first day.”
However, next day trading volume quadrupled to 886,200 shares, worth about $ 36.2 million according to Yahoo Finance.
ProShares #Bitcoin Short strategy ETF (BITI) holds over 870k shares, valued at 35 million, on the second trading day https://t.co/gyfMcm4UOz
– unfolded. (@cryptounfolded) June 22, 2022
ProShares #Bitcoin ETF (BITI) short strategy is trading at more than 870,000 shares, worth 35 million, on the second day of trading https://t.co/gyfMcm4UOz.
– unfolded. (@cryptounfolded) June 22, 2022
BITI exchange-trading fund allows investors to take short positions in the bitcoin market without holding any BTC themselves. Short selling involves speculating on the decline in the market value of an asset or asset.
ProShares CEO Michael L. Sapir noted the second day volume as an indication of BITI’s demand and fee structure:
“The market reception received by BITI confirms investors’ demand for a convenient and profitable ETF to profit from their cryptocurrency holdings or to hedge them when the value of bitcoin declines.”
ProShares also offers the Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), launched on October 18th. BITO saw about $ 1 billion in volume on its first trading day.
In November, BITO volume peaked at all ETFs, but has now lost 50.93% of its value since its inception.
Of course, the $ 36 million is worse than the $ 1 billion long positions on the first day. This may mean that most investors are unsure whether the decline will continue as it is at present. In the last 30 days, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has lost more than 30% of its value.
BITI’s relatively poor performance on launch day drew ridicule from Bloomberg Intelligence chief financial officer James Seyffart. On Tuesday, Seyfart tweeted that BITI only made about $ 1 million in volume in the first trading hour.
Seiffart has declared that he expected the initial volume to be low. “It simply came to our notice then. Although I must admit I am a little surprised that it is so low, ”he said.
So.. $ BITIthe inverse Proshares #Bitcoin ETF Futures launched today to a fairly slow start based on its volume. Granted he did not start trading until about 9:57 AM. Sooo we have trading hours and only $ 1 million in total trading volume … https://t.co/Hf0XFeGmsX
—James Seyffart (@JSeyff) June 21, 2022
So … The launch of $ BITI today got off to a slow start if you can believe it. Admittedly, he did not start trading until about 9:57 in the morning. So we have trading hours and only $ 1 million in total trading … https://t.co/Hf0XFeGmsX
– James Seyffart (@JSeyff) June 21, 2022
Eventually, BITI had reached approximately $ 7.1 million at an average daily price of $ 39.06 per share.
Read also: The elusive Bitcoin ETF: Hester Peirce criticized the lack of legal clarity for cryptocurrencies
Australia’s new Bitcoin ETFs have also struggled to generate interest. In April, the Cosmos Objective Bitcoin (CBTC) Bitcoin Access ETF was expected to attract $ 1 billion in inflows. However, its launch and launch of the 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (EBTC) has been postponed until May 12th. To date, CBTC only manages $ 810,000 in assets, while EBTC has $ 2.8 million.
US traders are still seeking Bitcoin ETF on the spot, which has been rejected by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for many years. Commissioner Hester Pierce believes spot bitcoin ETFs could launch in the United States as industry insiders and regulators work closer together to ensure both parties are on the same page.
