BlackRock's New Bitcoin Income ETF Files a 0.65% Fee—Cheaper Than Its Covered-Call Rivals 🧢

BlackRock filed the fourth amendment to its S-1 registration statement for the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 10, moving the actively managed fund closer to launch under the proposed ticker BITA on Nasdaq. The product is designed to track Bitcoin price performance while generating additional income through a covered call options strategy, writing call options primarily on the firm's spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, or on indices that track spot Bitcoin ETPs. Each month the fund plans to sell calls on 25% to 35% of its value, capping upside in exchange for the premiums it distributes to shareholders.

The latest amendment sets a 0.65% sponsor fee for BITA, a level that sits below the 0.95% charged by YBTC and the 0.99% charged by BTCI, the two largest covered-call bitcoin ETFs, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas. BlackRock intends to pay the sponsor fee using proceeds from the sale of IBIT shares and has indicated a potential waiver of fees is possible. The filing also listed Jane Street Capital and Virtu Financial Singapore as the authorized Bitcoin trading counterparties handling on and off-ramp activity.

The trust reported a net asset value of $9.99 million, or $49.97 per share, in the filing. Balchunas wrote on X that "BlackRock just filed a new (and probably final) amendment for their Bitcoin Premium Income ETF $BITA and WE HAVE A FEE: 65bps," adding that the product is likely to launch soon as the firm races Goldman Sachs to market, with Goldman's own Bitcoin Premium ETF, which plans to invest up to 80% of its net assets in investments that provide Bitcoin exposure, expected to go live around July 1. BlackRock's flagship iShares Bitcoin Trust, IBIT, has become the largest U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF by assets, anchoring the firm's distribution platform as the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market increasingly concentrates between IBIT and Fidelity's FBTC.