ProShares, a premier provider of ETFs and the largest provider of bitcoin-linked ETFs* in the United States, announced today that its new short bitcoin strategy fund (BITI) traded more than 870,000 shares, or $35 million of value, on its second day of trading.
“With our launch of BITI yesterday, we are pleased to have provided investors access to the first short bitcoin strategy ETF in the United States,” said ProShares CEO Michael L. Sapir. “The reception that BITI is getting in the market affirms investor demand for a convenient and cost-effective ETF to potentially profit or hedge their cryptocurrency holdings when bitcoin drops in value.”
BITI can help address the challenge of acquiring short exposure to bitcoin, which can be onerous and expensive for many investors. Many cryptocurrency exchanges impose stringent restrictions that make it extremely challenging for investors to short spot bitcoin. Further, the financing costs associated with traditional methods of obtaining short exposure can reach between 5% and 20%, or more—making BITI a more cost-efficient approach.
BITI is designed to deliver the inverse (opposite) of the performance of the S&P CME Bitcoin Futures Index. It seeks to achieve its objective on each investment day and for no other period. BITI seeks to obtain exposure through bitcoin futures contracts.
BITI’s public listing follows ProShares’ introduction of BITO, the first U.S. bitcoin-linked ETF, in October 2021.
“We are pleased to welcome BITI, ProShares’ new inverse bitcoin ETF, to the NYSE, the home of innovation in the ETF industry,” said Douglas Yones, head of exchange traded products at the NYSE. “With BITI and its earlier launch of BITO, ProShares is now the first issuer to offer ETFs that provide opportunities when bitcoin increases and decreases in value.”
For investors who prefer a mutual fund, ProFunds, the affiliated mutual fund company of ProShares, launched a new Short Bitcoin Strategy ProFund (BITIX) today. The BITIX mutual fund will have the same investment objective as BITI. Previously, ProFunds launched the first bitcoin-linked mutual fund, BTCFX, in July 2021.