BlackRock filed for a bitcoin income ETF with a 0.65% fee. The fight starts before launch.
BITA turns IBIT from a spot bitcoin product into raw material for income, and BlackRock is already pricing like it wants the category.
CryptoVibe Desk · blackrock · bitcoin · etfs
- →BlackRock filed a Form 8-A for BITA, a Nasdaq-listed bitcoin income ETF built on options tied to IBIT shares.
- →CoinDesk reports BITA’s planned fee is 0.65%, below the 0.95% and 0.99% fees on two larger rivals.
- →Watch whether the registration becomes effective before June 18, the launch date Eric Balchunas estimated in CoinDesk’s report.
- ETF → An ETF is a fund that trades on an exchange like a stock.
- Form 8-A → A Form 8-A is an SEC filing used to register securities before they trade on an exchange.
- Covered call → A covered call sells the right to buy an asset later, collecting income but limiting some upside.
BlackRock filed for BITA, with CoinDesk reporting a planned 0.65% fee.
The Form 8-A registers shares of the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF for Nasdaq. Per the filing, the fund would sell call options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT. That means income comes from option premiums, while some bitcoin upside gets capped.
This is BlackRock extending the IBIT machine. CoinDesk reported IBIT had $49 billion in net assets as of its Friday story. If you already own spot bitcoin exposure through an ETF, BITA is the version built to pay income instead of tracking every move higher.
The fee is the only number that matters. BITA’s planned 0.65% fee sits below the 0.95% and 0.99% fees on the two largest covered-call bitcoin funds, according to CoinDesk. That is not subtle pricing. BlackRock is starting the fight before the fund even trades.
The filing is procedural, but late-stage. CoinDesk says an 8-A share registration is usually one of the last steps before an ETF goes live. The registration still needs to become effective.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas told CoinDesk the filing “typically means launch in one week.” He estimated BITA could start trading on June 18. Goldman Sachs has a competing bitcoin income product expected around July 1, CoinDesk reported.
The catalyst is named. BlackRock is using IBIT’s scale, Nasdaq access, and a lower fee to make bitcoin income look like a standard ETF product. For now, the open question is not demand. It is whether rivals can keep fees near 1% once BlackRock shows up.
BlackRock’s 0.65% BITA fee is an attack on existing bitcoin income funds. It turns IBIT’s scale into fee pressure before trading starts.
By June 18, watch whether Nasdaq posts BITA’s first trade and whether its effective fee remains 0.65% in final launch materials.
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