BlackRock Files With SEC to Launch iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF

In brief

• BlackRock filed an SEC registration for an iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF that generates income through call options.
• The new fund will compete with NEOS BTCI ($1.09 billion AUM) and other Bitcoin covered-call ETFs.
• The actively managed structure means higher fees than passive spot Bitcoin ETFs like IBIT.

BlackRock could soon debut its iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, according to a registration statement filed with the SEC on Friday. The new ETF will track the “performance of the price of Bitcoin while providing premium income through an actively managed strategy of writing (selling) call options on IBIT shares and, from time to time, on indices that track spot bitcoin exchange-traded products (‘ETPs’), including [iShares Bitcoin Trust] (such indices, ‘ETP Indices’),” the issuer said in its SEC filing. In practice, this means the fund sells options that give other investors the right to buy its IBIT shares at a set price and collects the option premiums as income. Shares in the ETF will represent fractional beneficial interests in that income and the fund’s Bitcoin, IBIT shares, and cash. 

A BlackRock spokesperson told Decrypt the firm cannot comment further on how the new fund will compare to competitors or when it will share details about the expense ratio for the new ETF. It’s normal for initial S-1 registrations to leave out details like tickers, custodians, and management fees. But for the sake of context, there are a few similar Bitcoin income or covered-call ETFs already trading. The NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF has traded under the BTCI ticker on the Cboe BZX Exchange since its October 2024 launch. As of Friday, it had $1.09 billion worth of assets under management. The expense ratio for BTCI is approximately 0.99% of assets annually. That means investors pay just under 1% of their invested assets each year to cover the fund’s operating and management costs. The new BlackRock fund will also compete against the Roundhill Bitcoin Covered Call Strategy ETF (YBTC) and YieldMax Bitcoin Option Income Strategy ETF (YBIT), which account for $225 million and $74 million in assets under management, respectively.

Actively managed ETFs, like BTCI and the new iShares offering, charge higher fees to cover the costs of implementing their option-writing strategy. A passive spot Bitcoin ETF, like IBIT, keeps its operating costs lower because it doesn’t trade derivatives, time markets, or make discretionary strategy decisions. The structure reflects a higher-risk, higher-fee strategy that also offers the potential for higher income than a passive spot Bitcoin ETF.