Sports Betting ETF, Bitcoin Surprisingly Joined at the Hip
Posted on: May 13, 2026, 01:14h.
Last updated on: May 13, 2026, 01:14h.
- Bitcoin and the Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF are surprisingly highly correlated
- Research indicates the ETF can be a tell about near-term Bitcoin moves
- Some say the linkage dismisses the notion that Bitcoin is a safe-haven asset
It’s probably not something market participants had on their investing bingo cards, but data indicate the Roundhill Sports Betting & iGaming ETF (NYSE: BETZ) and Bitcoin are highly correlated.
Using the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT), the largest spot Bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF), as the bogey, CoinDesk analyzed linkage between that ETF and the sports betting fund, discovering that the two assets are nearly joined at the hip.
The 90-day correlation coefficient between the two assets was 0.73 at press time, according to data from TradingView. Meanwhile, the 365-day coefficient stood at 0.91,” reports the cryptocurrency publication. “That translates into an R² of approximately 0.83, implying that over 80% of the variation in the two assets’ movements is statistically linked.”
A perfect correlation would be 1, confirming that the 0.91 shared between BETZ and IBIT is in fact high. R2, or R-squared, gauges how closely an asset’s price fluctuations are correlated to a benchmark.
Is BETZ a Bitcoin Tell?
BETZ debuted in June 2020 as the first ETF dedicated to sports wagering stocks. The fund immediately gained traction due in part to risk-tolerant retail traders embracing gaming equities during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Today, the ETF, which tracks the Morningstar Sports Betting & iGaming Select Index, has $47.9 million in assets under management, indicating some of the enthusiasm for the product waned, but that doesn’t discredit the fund as a potential harbinger of Bitcoin price action.
As CoinDesk notes, BETZ notched its all-time high in September. Bitcoin tallied what was then a record high two months later, but by then, the sports betting ETF was faltering. Said another way, BETZ was slumping in advance of 2022 — a year known as the “Crypto Winter.”
In September 2022, the sports betting ETF put in a bottom, beating Bitcoin to that punch by three months. Correlation doesn’t always equal causation, but it cannot be argued that BETZ has a track record of foreshadowing Bitcoin peaks and troughs. While the BETZ/IBIT relationship isn’t widely discussed on Wall Street, it does feed into a notion held by some market observers that Bitcoin is a risk-on asset, not a safe-haven.
Inside the BETZ Lineup
As of March 31, BETZ has delivered annualized performance of 3.67% since inception, according to issuer data.
The Roundhill ETF is home to 30 stocks, including names that trade in New York and on international exchanges. The fund’s largest holding is Rush Street Interactive (NYSE: RSI), which commands a weight of 8.05%.
Other familiar names in the ETF include DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) and FanDuel owner Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT), which combine for 10.51% of the portfolio.
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