An index of 50 low-capitalization cryptocurrencies, the so-called Shitcoin Index, is up 114% so far this year. Launched in 2019 by FTX, the index was trading at an all-time high of $1,065 Monday after making all-time highs for the past three consecutive trading days.
- The novel futures product has outperformed bitcoin by 88 percentage points this year.
- Wednesday marked the first trading day the index closed above $1,000.
- September futures continue to trade in mild backwardation (at a discount) to perpetual futures.
- Daily trading volumes are low, staying below $10 million for the past month, but open interest, or the total value of contracts not yet settled, grew 43% over the past week, according to CoinGecko data.
- “Over the past month the ‘Robinhood Rally’ seems to have made its way into crypto, with popular and /or lower-cap coins running up while their respective market leaders stay quiet,” said Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, the exchange that launched the index futures in August 2019.
- The index includes 50 low-cap cryptocurrencies including grin, theta, bitcoin gold, nano and ardor.
