BlackRock, based in New York City, isn’t breaking new ground.
Calamos debuted its first three protected bitcoin ETFs in early 2025, offering investors a choice between full downside protection and funds that limit losses to 10% or 20% over a set period.
BlackRock’s filing did not provide details on how much downside protection the proposed fund would offer, nor how much of bitcoin’s upside investors could capture.
Calamos puts roughly 90% of the funds’ assets into U.S. Treasuries and uses the rest to buy bitcoin-linked options. The structure allows investors to benefit when bitcoin rises, up to a set cap, while limiting losses over a defined period.
The strategy has found an audience. Matt Kaufman, Calamos’ head of ETFs, said in May that the protected bitcoin funds had attracted between $10 million and $15 million over several weeks, even as spot bitcoin ETFs saw outflows.
BlackRock has also been looking beyond funds that track bitcoin’s price.
In June, it launched the Bitcoin Premium Income Fund (BITA), which holds bitcoin and IBIT shares while selling call options on roughly 25% to 35% of its portfolio to generate monthly income.
“There are investors across the spectrum … looking to generate some amount of income off of still having a mostly large, mostly long position to bitcoin,” Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s U.S. head of equity ETFs, told CoinDesk at the time.
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