Returns Correspondence Between Bitcoin Futures & Bitcoin

Abstract

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) investing in bitcoin futures contracts first listed for trading in the fall of 2021. This research evaluates the extent to which the returns of bitcoin futures and bitcoin correspond to determine if bitcoin futures provide an effective proxy for a direct bitcoin investment. A no-arbitrage framework for bitcoin futures is established, which provides the basis for the empirical analyses that follow. The empirical analyses of returns correspondence between bitcoin futures and bitcoin use daily and monthly returns to estimate single-factor asset pricing regressions, finding coefficients of expected magnitude and that bitcoin returns explain over 97% of the variation in bitcoin futures returns. This research also estimates two-factor asset pricing regressions that include a novel excess carry term. The two-factor regressions find statistically significant excess carry term coefficients and over 99% explained variation. Finding strong evidence that the returns of bitcoin futures and bitcoin closely correspond, this research concludes that bitcoin futures provide an effective proxy for a direct bitcoin investment.