Inverse ETF Wins as Crypto Giants Slip
Mon Mar 30 2026
When Coinbase, Nebius and IREN all fell sharply last week, traders who had bet against them made big money.
The drops were steep: Coinbase lost more than 15 percent, Nebius slipped about 13 percent and IREN fell around 16 percent.
These falls did not hurt everyone; they helped inverse ETFs that move opposite to their target stocks climb by 10‑14 percent on Friday alone.
Inverse ETFs are designed to turn a stock’s decline into profit.
They reset every day, so their gains can add up quickly when a share’s price drops. Over the past five days, the inverse ETFs tracking these names jumped: NBIZ up 42 percent, IREZ up 45 percent and CONI up 46 percent.
What pushed the stocks down?
Coinbase’s fall came after traders worried about shrinking crypto trading volumes and a miss on earnings. Nebius was nervous because it plans to borrow billions to build AI data centres, raising concerns about debt and execution. IREN’s slide reflected doubts over its shift from Bitcoin mining to AI infrastructure amid general crypto volatility.
Inverse ETFs are useful for short‑term trades, not long‑term holdings.
Their daily reset can create compounding effects that hurt if you hold them too long. They are best used to capture quick moves when a stock is already under pressure.
In short, the sharp fall of high‑beta stocks on March 27 gave inverse ETF traders a perfect chance to profit from market pessimism in just a few days.
