Key facts
- BlackRock filed a Form 8-A for its iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF.
- The ETF, ticker BITA, is expected to launch on Nasdaq around June 18.
- The fund will sell call options on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) to generate income.
- BITA has a planned management fee of 0.65%.
- This launch positions BlackRock to compete with a similar product from Goldman Sachs.
BlackRock has taken a significant step toward launching its iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF by filing a Form 8-A, a document typically submitted shortly before an ETF begins trading. ETF analyst Eric Balchunas anticipates the fund, with the ticker BITA, could start trading on Nasdaq as soon as June 18.
The new ETF aims to provide investors with income by selling call options on shares of BlackRock's existing iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which holds approximately $49 billion in net assets. This strategy caps potential upside if bitcoin prices rally significantly but generates income from the premiums received for selling the options.
With a proposed management fee of 0.65%, BlackRock's offering undercuts the fees of existing covered-call bitcoin funds, which are around 0.95% and 0.99%. This move signifies BlackRock's continued effort to develop bitcoin into an income-generating product for mainstream investors, potentially beating a similar product from Goldman Sachs to market, which is expected around July 1.