BlackRock has filed to launch a bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund that would seek to give investors access to price gains while limiting losses during market declines, according to CoinDesk. The proposal follows the performance of a similar Calamos fund, whose investors avoided most of bitcoin’s sharp fall over the past year.
A new approach to bitcoin exposure
The proposed iShares Bitcoin Managed Protect ETF would be linked to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, known by its ticker IBIT, and/or similar bitcoin exposure. In its filing, BlackRock said the fund would seek to provide upside exposure up to an approximate limit while also seeking to provide a level of downside protection.
The filing did not specify how much protection the product would offer. It also did not say what portion of bitcoin’s potential gains investors would be able to capture. Those details are important because funds using this type of structure generally exchange some unlimited upside for a defined level of protection over a particular period.
An ETF is an exchange-traded fund, a pooled investment product whose shares trade on an exchange. In this case, the proposed fund would be intended to give investors bitcoin-related exposure through a structure designed to manage part of the risk of a decline, rather than simply tracking bitcoin’s price directly.
BlackRock’s proposal builds on IBIT, the firm’s flagship spot bitcoin ETF. The fund manages more than $65 billion in assets and is the largest of the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs introduced in 2024.
Calamos product weathered bitcoin’s decline
BlackRock’s filing comes after Calamos Investments introduced its own protected bitcoin ETFs. The company launched its first three such funds in early 2025, giving investors different levels of protection: full downside protection, or limits on losses of 10% or 20%, over a defined period.
One of those products, the Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF – October, ticker CBOO, fell just 1% from the beginning of its one-year protection period in October 2025, according to a Calamos spokesperson. Over the same broad period, bitcoin fell as much as 52% from its record high of about $126,000.
The contrast illustrates the purpose of a protected fund. Rather than taking the full effect of bitcoin’s price movements, the fund combines relatively defensive holdings with options linked to bitcoin. Calamos places about 90% of the assets in U.S. Treasuries and uses the remainder to purchase bitcoin-linked options.
That arrangement is intended to let investors participate in gains up to a preset cap while limiting losses during the specified protection period. The trade-off is that investors may not receive the full benefit of a large bitcoin rally, depending on the fund’s terms.
The strategy has attracted some demand. Matt Kaufman, Calamos’ head of ETFs, said in May that the firm’s protected bitcoin funds had drawn between $10 million and $15 million over several weeks, even while spot bitcoin ETFs experienced outflows.
BlackRock broadens its crypto fund range
The proposed protected ETF is another sign that BlackRock is expanding its bitcoin-related offerings beyond products that simply follow the cryptocurrency’s price. In June, the asset manager launched the Bitcoin Premium Income Fund, ticker BITA.
BITA holds bitcoin and shares of IBIT while selling call options on approximately 25% to 35% of its portfolio. The strategy is designed to generate monthly income, although selling call options can also limit the upside available on the assets covered by those options.
Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s U.S. head of equity ETFs, told CoinDesk at the time that investors were seeking ways to generate income while retaining a mostly long position in bitcoin. A long position generally benefits when the underlying asset rises.
The new filing targets a different concern: the scale of losses that can occur when bitcoin falls sharply. Bitcoin’s decline of more than half from its peak has highlighted the gap between direct exposure and products that use options or other structures to soften volatility.
BlackRock has not yet disclosed the final protection level, upside cap or other key terms of the proposed ETF. As a result, the filing establishes the intended design but does not yet show exactly how the product would perform in different market conditions.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data at 08:32–08:33 on October 21, 2026, showed bitcoin at $83,135.94, up 2.17% over 24 hours but down 0.72% over seven days. Aethir was priced at $0.005701, up 5.38% in 24 hours and down 8.30% over seven days.
FUNToken stood at $0.008813, down 0.12% over 24 hours and up 0.14% over seven days, while Propy traded at $0.346982, up 0.76% over 24 hours and down 8.11% over seven days.
