BlackRock has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protection ETF, a buffer-style Bitcoin fund that would trade under the ticker PBIT. The fund would limit investor losses while capping gains through a structured options strategy.
Unlike traditional Bitcoin ETFs, PBIT would not hold Bitcoin or Bitcoin ETFs directly. Instead, it would buy call options on BlackRock's existing iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) or similar Bitcoin exposure, while selling higher-priced calls to offset costs. The fund would operate in three overlapping tranches with staggered monthly start dates, ensuring one tranche expires and a new one begins each month.
Each tranche would typically protect investors' capital down to approximately 90% of the reference asset's value, limiting initial losses to roughly 10% before fees. The cap on gains would be set by market conditions at the start of each tranche, with the fund holding discretion to adjust both parameters.
Buffer-style Bitcoin ETFs are not new to the market. Calamos, First Trust, and Innovator already offer defined-outcome funds tied to Bitcoin, though analysts note that BlackRock's entry into this space tends to generate significant market attention.
The filing coincided with strong inflows into BlackRock's flagship IBIT fund. On Monday, IBIT drew $665.2 million in net inflows, making it the only one of 12 U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs to post gains for the day. Fidelity's FBTC lost $83.6 million and Grayscale's GBTC shed $54.9 million, resulting in net inflows of $526.6 million across all spot Bitcoin ETFs.
IBIT, which launched in January 2024, now holds $66.37 billion in net assets, making it the largest spot Bitcoin ETF. Since launch, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively have drawn $57.4 billion in cumulative net inflows and now hold $105.46 billion in total net assets.
Monday's inflows reversed a recent trend of outflows. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs shed approximately $910 million over the two weeks prior, including $228.6 million the previous week and $681.1 million the week before, as inflation data prompted renewed expectations of potential Federal Reserve rate increases.
