The bitcoin ETF story has been an interesting one. From the hype, excitement, and final release of spot bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, those funds no longer dominate the headlines. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT ), iShares’ take on the spot bitcoin ETF, exploded to a nearly $100 billion in October 2025, but has since seen its AUM halved. Now, iShares is making a foray into a new type of bitcoin ETF, the bitcoin income ETF, with its new fund BITA.
Key Takeaways:
- The income ETF space is an increasingly important one, with iShares adding a new, intriguing offering.
- BITA arrives to join peer ETFs like BTCI, which itself offers some notable first-mover advantage.
- BTCI has also added some notable flows compared to spot bitcoin ETF IBIT.
The iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BITA) arrives amid growing innovation and interest in covered call ETFs. The strategy, charging 65 basis points (bps), comes in much lower than that of the NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF (BTCI ). BTCI charges 99 bps for exposure to its bitcoin income ETF approach.
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The funds both represent an intriguing new space within bitcoin ETFs. As income ETFs, they look to leverage covered calls, themselves a growing category, to offer income to investors. BITA, for example, looks to track the performance of bitcoin while generating income.
It does so via selling call options on IBIT, trading some of that ETF’s bitcoin return upside for income. According to the firm’s site, the strategy “has the effect of transforming an asset with zero income, like Bitcoin, into an asset that pursues premium income.”
BITA arrives following the great success seen by BTCI. BTCI launched in October 2024. The fund has produced a very robust 26.7% distribution rate according to its operators, NEOS. It has added more than $650 million over the last six months in net inflows. IBIT, by contrast, has lost more than $500 million.
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Looking ahead, then, how might investors compare BITA and BTCI? BTCI could have a key advantage in its first-mover status compared to BITA. BTCI can show investors not only its performance track record, but the consistent distributions investors want in an income ETF. Competition from BITA is welcome, but it may have some work to do to catch up to the NEOS fund.
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