You could but you could also hold inverse SPY tickers can't you? I understand the risks of shorting but its not clear to me say what I stand to lose with $SPXU

You could but you could also hold inverse SPY tickers can't you? I understand the risks of shorting but its not clear to me say what I stand to lose with $SPXU for instance, is it designed to lose value with time due to the underlying futures contracts?