“Shitcoin Index” down forty percent a month after launch

Color us surprised: Antigua-based crypto exchange FTX’s “Shitcoin Index Perpetual Futures,” or “SHIT-PERP,” a basket of coins that includes Grin, Nano and Waves, has experienced an impressive forty percent downslide since its launch in late July. 

The index, which offers some 58 unloved tokens, sank from its high of roughly $1,000 to around $691 today in just over a month. 

But that’s good news, it turns out. According to Coindesk, the Shitcoin Index is primarily used for shorting shitcoins, not staking out longer positions. “If you want exposure to a particular initial coin offering, but not the general industry, you can short SHIT-PERP,” wrote Coindesk in August. “By shorting the greater alt market, you hedge your bets and limit your downside.”

FTX is incubated by Alameda Research, and has launched a bevy of other fun products. Just yesterday, for instance, it launched EXCH Futures, “an index of exchange tokens” that includes BNB, LEO, HT and OKB.