Following the fantastic launch, interest in ProShares Bitcoin Exchange Strategy Fund (BITO), which now has the lowest number of CME contracts since November 2021, has waned.
The Bitcoin Futures Trading Fund (ETF) has a total of 4,904 CME futures contracts, as of the fund’s last update (January 11), without having to hold the asset.
BITO’s AUM fell to $ 1.16 billion from $ 1.4 billion in November last year. This is the same amount he kept two days after the launch on October 18, when it became the fastest fund to reach $ 1 billion in total assets. Start.
Arcane Research discussed possible causes of the BITO fix in its latest weekly update. As you’d expect, BTC’s poor price performance over the past two months is the main explanation, as bitcoins have drifted from $ 69,000 reaching November 10 to a current price of around $ 43,700.
Arcane offers another explanation for the low interest in BITO – the higher costs associated with operating a futures-based ETF, with rollover costs required each month to exceed the current BTC price, resulting in higher costs:
“BITO sells its position in the first month to buy next month’s contract every time the contract approaches.”
Arcane believes that BTC spot ETFs will not be subject to the same high fees that increase over time. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not yet approved any of these ETFs, but a decision on the filing of Fidelity Investments is scheduled for January 20.
Other Bitcoin futures ETFs have also failed to significantly increase BITO assets, which are part of BITO assets. Valkyrie Bitcoin Futures ETF (BTFD), which was launched a few days after BITO, currently has $ 71.9 million.
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Although the VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF) has increased its assets under management by $ 6 million since its launch on November 16, according to Dividend.com, it currently has only $ 15.8 million.
