BlackRock is not breaking new ground with this move.
Calamos launched 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 defined period.
BlackRock’s filing did not specify how much downside protection the proposed fund would provide, nor how much of bitcoin’s upside investors could capture.
Calamos allocates approximately 90% of fund assets to U.S. Treasuries and uses the remainder to purchase 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 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 simply 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 while still maintaining a mostly large, mostly long position in bitcoin,” Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s U.S. head of equity ETFs, told CoinDesk at the time.
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