Key Takeaways
- • BlackRock filed on Monday, October 20, 2026 for the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protect ETF, a fund designed to give investors upside exposure to bitcoin while seeking to limit losses, according to the filing.
- • Calamos Investments' Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF – October (CBOO) fell just 1% since its one-year protection period began in October 2025, while bitcoin tumbled as much as 52% from its record high near $126,000.
- • The proposed fund would build on BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which manages more than $65 billion in assets, and follows BlackRock's June 2026 launch of the Bitcoin Premium Income Fund (BITA).
- • BlackRock's filing did not disclose how much downside protection the fund would offer or how much upside investors could capture.
Summary
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, filed on Monday to launch the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protect ETF, a structured product that would provide exposure to bitcoin's gains while seeking to limit losses when the cryptocurrency declines. The filing states that the fund "seeks to provide upside exposure to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and/or similar bitcoin exposure up to an approximate limit, while seeking to provide a level of downside protection." The filing did not specify the level of downside protection or the cap on upside participation.
The proposal follows protected bitcoin products from Calamos Investments, the Naperville, Illinois-based firm. Its Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF – October (CBOO) dropped just 1% since the start of its one-year protection period in October 2025, according to a Calamos spokesperson, while bitcoin fell as much as 52% from its record high of roughly $126,000. Calamos debuted its first three protected bitcoin ETFs in early 2025, offering choices between full downside protection and funds that limit losses to 10% or 20% over a set period. According to the firm, roughly 90% of those funds' assets are held in U.S. Treasuries, with the remainder used to buy bitcoin-linked options that allow investors to participate in gains up to a set cap.
Demand for the strategy has been measurable. Matt Kaufman, Calamos' head of ETFs, said in May that the protected bitcoin funds had attracted between $10 million and $15 million over several weeks, even as spot bitcoin ETFs experienced outflows.
The BlackRock filing would build on its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest of the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs introduced in 2024, which manages more than $65 billion in assets. BlackRock has also been expanding beyond price-tracking products. In June it launched the Bitcoin Premium Income Fund (BITA), which holds bitcoin and IBIT shares and sells call options on roughly 25% to 35% of its portfolio to generate monthly income. Jay Jacobs, BlackRock's U.S. head of equity ETFs, told CoinDesk at the time that "there are investors across the spectrum ... looking to generate some amount of income off of still having a mostly large, mostly long position to bitcoin."
The proposal follows protected bitcoin products from Calamos Investments, the Naperville, Illinois-based firm. Its Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF – October (CBOO) dropped just 1% since the start of its one-year protection period in October 2025, according to a Calamos spokesperson, while bitcoin fell as much as 52% from its record high of roughly $126,000. Calamos debuted its first three protected bitcoin ETFs in early 2025, offering choices between full downside protection and funds that limit losses to 10% or 20% over a set period. According to the firm, roughly 90% of those funds' assets are held in U.S. Treasuries, with the remainder used to buy bitcoin-linked options that allow investors to participate in gains up to a set cap.
Demand for the strategy has been measurable. Matt Kaufman, Calamos' head of ETFs, said in May that the protected bitcoin funds had attracted between $10 million and $15 million over several weeks, even as spot bitcoin ETFs experienced outflows.
The BlackRock filing would build on its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest of the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs introduced in 2024, which manages more than $65 billion in assets. BlackRock has also been expanding beyond price-tracking products. In June it launched the Bitcoin Premium Income Fund (BITA), which holds bitcoin and IBIT shares and sells call options on roughly 25% to 35% of its portfolio to generate monthly income. Jay Jacobs, BlackRock's U.S. head of equity ETFs, told CoinDesk at the time that "there are investors across the spectrum ... looking to generate some amount of income off of still having a mostly large, mostly long position to bitcoin."
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