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December of 2021 wasn’t kind to crypto, and it shows on the derivative markets. ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF BITO – the first Bitcoin ETF to arrive in the United States – is now one of history’s worst-performing issuers two months after listing. This is despite a euphoric start, during which the fund was the NYSE’s second most excellent opening-day performer of all time.

Bullish Opening, Bearish Aftermath

As reported by Bloomberg, BITO ranked as a top ten worst performing issuer when measured two months after its October launch. It suffered a 30% drop as of Dec. 19 and a 34% drop this past week. That’s the 9th worst two-month performance – with POTX ranked 1st, down 38% after its 2019 inception.

The drop is a direct consequence of the crypto market decline over the final stretch of 2021. After Bitcoin reached an all-time high at $69 thousand but began a slow and steady decline afterwards. Following a series of cascading liquidations, the price now hovers below $42 thousand, while the market sentiment is at its lowest since July.

This was surprising, given that BITO’s launch was heralded as a bullish market event. Though a futures product, it marked the first US Bitcoin ETF following great difficulty with the SEC. Many – including Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor – thought tremendous money would flow into the asset after it approved an ETF.

“Timing can be tough sometimes with ETFs,” said Athanasios Psarofagis, data analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. “You aren’t hearing much about the performance flop of BITO since it went live.”

Not a Death Sentence

Bitcoin (BITCOMP) hasn’t been below $50 thousand since October, when there was a rally anticipating BITO’s launch. Launch day was highly successful, pulling in the second-highest first-day returns in NYSE history. However, the product started approaching its contract limit within only days. Subsequent Bitcoin ETFs failed to pull in nearly as many returns.

This week alone, the ETF is down 9%. It hasn’t seen a single joyous day since the start of the year. Nevertheless, Psarofagis thinks the ETF can still see success in the future. “You can see some other ETFs had a rough start out of the gate but can still raise assets,” he said, referencing his list.

Bloomberg Intelligence still considers Bitcoin an “enduring bull market,” going into 2022, spelling potential optimism for BITO.