BlackRock today announced the launch of the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (Nasdaq:BITA), an exchange-traded product (ETP) designed to provide investors with bitcoin upside participation while generating monthly option premium.
The iShares Trusts are not an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and therefore are not subject to the same regulatory requirements as mutual funds or ETFs registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
BITA gains bitcoin exposure through a combination of spot bitcoin and the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) – the world’s largest and most-traded bitcoin ETP.1 BITA aims to write call options on IBIT representing approximately 25% to 35% of the portfolio, generating option premiums that may be distributed to investors each month. This approach preserves the majority of BITA’s bitcoin exposure, allowing investors to participate in market movements while potentially producing income.
“A significant segment of our client base is interested in bitcoin but is also highly focused on income generation,” said Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock. “BITA was built in response to that demand, enabling investors to retain the majority of their bitcoin upside exposure while capturing potential income through a convenient exchange-traded structure.”
BITA is designed with quality in mind. BITA’s differentiated structure holds bitcoin (and IBIT) directly for tax-efficient growth2 while selling options on IBIT that benefit from lower 60/40 taxation3 as section 1256 contracts.4 Investors may also benefit from certain tax efficiencies inherent in the partnership structure, including the ability to pass through capital losses to offset other investment gains and the character of both short-term and long-term gains as capital gains.
Delivering Greater Investor Choice Backed by iShares’ Scale and Quality
BITA builds on two established pillars of BlackRock’s platform: its digital assets product suite – including IBIT, the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), and the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) – and its premium income offerings, with over $3 billion in client assets across ETFs registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 such as the iShares U.S. Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF (BALI) and the iShares Nasdaq Premium Income Active ETF (BALQ). BITA leverages the scale and liquidity of IBIT and its options market, which averages approximately $3.7 billion in daily trading volume and ranks among the top 1% of all options products.5
“BITA applies BlackRock’s proven options capabilities to our established digital assets platform – purpose-built for investors with long-term bitcoin conviction who also want to put that allocation to work,” said Jessica Tan, Head of Americas for Global Product Solutions at BlackRock. “Delivering a strategy like BITA at scale requires deep ETP and options expertise, rigorous risk management, and scalable infrastructure – capabilities that iShares delivers every day.”
BlackRock is a leading asset manager in the digital asset ecosystem, overseeing more than $130 billion in assets across digital asset ETPs, tokenized liquidity funds, and stablecoin reserve management.6 iShares captured approximately 90% of industry flows into U.S.-listed digital asset ETPs in 2025.7
