Bitcoin Is Doing Something It Has Never Done Before, and It May Lead to Big Gains

In 2021, the first Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit the U.S. market. Following the launch, Morningstar analyst Ben Johnson told investors in no uncertain terms, "These aren't the Bitcoin ETFs you're looking for." That's because the first generation of Bitcoin ETFs buy and sell futures contracts, rather than investing in the cryptocurrency itself.The problem with that strategy is that price changes in futures contracts do not always mirror price changes in Bitcoin. Additionally, to maintain indefinite exposure, issuers roll Bitcoin futures contracts from one month to the next, meaning they sell contracts as the expiration date approaches and buy new contracts. But rolling the contracts costs money, and the fees are passed along to shareholders.The upshot is the first Bitcoin ETFs provide indirect exposure to Bitcoin, and consequently fail to tightly track its price. For instance, the futures-linked ProShares Bitcoin ETF has declined 37% since making its market debut in October 2021, but Bitcoin has gained 60%. In other words, the first Bitcoin ETF to hit the U.S. market has underperformed Bitcoin by 97 percentage points since its inception.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool