BlackRock files for a bitcoin ETF that trades some of IBIT’s upside for a buffer against losses
Summary
BlackRock’s iShares Trust filed a preliminary prospectus with the SEC on Monday for the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protection ETF, ticker PBIT, which “seeks to provide upside exposure to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) and/or similar bitcoin exposure up to an approximate limit, while seeking to provide a level of downside protection,” according to the filing; The Block reported the filing and called the fund the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protect ETF.
The prospectus says the fund will buy and sell options in three overlapping monthly tranches, using bought in-the-money calls for bitcoin exposure and sold out-of-the-money calls to help pay for them, which caps gains, plus short-term fixed-income holdings to earn interest.
Each tranche’s protection typically starts at about 90% of the reference asset’s value, an initial maximum loss of about 10% for that tranche before fees, but the filing says the fund has broad discretion to change those levels and that investors may lose some or all of their money.
The fund will not hold bitcoin or bitcoin exchange-traded products directly, its management fee has not been filled in yet, and the filing is set to become effective 75 days after it was filed.
Updates
- Update, : Oct. 20: Decrypt and Cointelegraph reported the PBIT filing; Cointelegraph said IBIT had $65.7 billion in net assets as of Monday per BlackRock, and noted ETF Store president Nate Geraci’s criticism that BlackRock still offers no spot SOL or XRP funds.
- Update, : Oct. 20: CoinDesk compared PBIT with Calamos’ protected bitcoin ETFs, saying Calamos’ CBOO fell about 1% since its protection period began in October 2025 while bitcoin fell as much as 52% from its roughly $126,000 high, per a Calamos spokesperson. CoinDesk said the filing gave no detail on how much protection or upside the fund would offer; the prospectus does describe protection typically starting near 90% of each tranche’s reference value, while saying those levels can change.
- Update, : Oct. 20: Bitcoin Magazine also reported the PBIT filing, describing it as a fund that offers downside protection but caps gains.
Key facts
- Because the fund holds several overlapping tranches, the filing says it does not offer a fixed floor or cap, and investors should not expect the outcome of any single tranche held for its full period.
- The filing says the fund generally expects to use FLEX options and may also use standard exchange-traded options, and it is classified as non-diversified.
- The Block said IBIT holds more than $65 billion in assets, the largest fund of its kind according to The Block’s ETF tracker, and that BlackRock launched the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF in June.
- Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said on X that this is BlackRock’s third bitcoin ETF filing and that the firm still has only bitcoin and Ethereum products, The Block reported.
- Decrypt said buffered bitcoin funds already exist from Calamos, First Trust and Innovator, and quoted Bloomberg Intelligence’s James Seyffart saying that when BlackRock moves into a space it “tends to make a big splash.”
- Cointelegraph said BlackRock’s crypto ETF lineup includes IBIT and the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA), plus the ETHA spot Ether fund and the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) launched in March 2026.
Related stories
- Binance sets aside $6.34 billion to cover record hack as TRM and Chainalysis tie it to North Korea's TraderTraitor
- Bitcoin dips below $80,000 as hot U.S. inflation data revives Fed rate-hike bets
- Bitcoin drops below $72,000 as spot ETFs bleed $1.44 billion in five days and BlackRock's IBIT loses $2 billion in nine