First ETF to Short Bitcoin Launched in The U.S

The exchange-traded fund provider ProShares, announced today a new product that will allow investors to short Bitcoin, the first of its kind in the United States.

With the ticker of BITI, The ProShares Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF, will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange Today and gives traders the unique ability to make money as the price of the world's number one cryptocurrency falls.

Shorting is an investment tactic that relies on an asset decreasing in value, different from the more traditional way of speculation which relies on the increase of bonds, cryptocurrencies, or bonds. An ETF is an investment vehicle that gives investors exposure to an asset without holding it themselves, buying shares from a company that represents the asset.

“As recent times have shown, Bitcoin can drop in value,” ProShares CEO Michael L. Sapir said a statement. “BITI affords investors who believe that the price of Bitcoin will drop with an opportunity to potentially profit or to hedge their cryptocurrency holdings.”

Investors, he added, can “conveniently obtain short exposure to bitcoin through buying an ETF in a traditional brokerage account.”

BITI will run contrary to the performance of the S&P CME Bitcoin Futures Index and will obtain exposure through Bitcoin futures contracts.

The launch of this new ETF comes at a time when Bitcoin and most of the crypto market, have seen significant slashes in price. Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,480.9, according to CoinMarketCap. After just last November hitting an all-time high of $68,789.63.

Bitcoin ETFs that track the price of cryptocurrencies became one of the only ways traditional investors could get exposure to Bitcoin in the U.S, due to the SEC slow approval of Bitcoin Spot ETFs.

This past October the SEC finally approved the first Bitcoin futures ETF—another ProShares product.

As the market wobbles through these times, courageous traders may think they know exactly where the price of Bitcoin is going, these investment vehicles give these individuals a variety of ways to get involved in the space, while feeling safe on more traditional platforms.