A no-lose way to invest in Bitcoin? It sounds fantastical, but asset manager Calamos says they can do it. The firm is launching a structured product that claims to be the “world’s first 100% downside protected Bitcoin ETF.”
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The product is designed to offer some of the upside from Bitcoin with full downside protection, mirroring a popular equity ETF investing approach. It will harness options exposure on the Cboe Bitcoin U.S. ETF Index with treasury holdings. Designed to be held for 12 months, the cap on the upside will be determined on January 22, based on options pricing, and is likely to be in the 10% range. The ETF will be traded under the ticker CBOJ.
Calamos Brings a Winning Equity ETF Strategy to Bitcoin
CBOJ is based on Calamos’s Structured Protection ETF series, which it launched last year to provide 100% downside protection strategies on the S&P 500 (SPX), Nasdaq 100 (NDX), and Russell 2000 (IWM). It believes the popularity of Bitcoin investing is growing and would benefit from more structured products to appeal to investors.
Spot Bitcoin funds launched in January 2024 and arguably achieved the most successful debut in ETF history. Together, they attracted tens of billions of dollars in investments, contributing to Bitcoin’s surge past a record high of $100,000 and pushing the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), the most popular of the funds, to more than $50 billion in total assets.
Although the price of Bitcoin has shot higher over the last year, many investors and financial advisors remain cautious due to its volatile nature, explained Matt Kaufman, Head of ETFs at Calamos. “Calamos seeks to meet advisor, institutional and investor demands for solutions that capture Bitcoin’s growth potential while mitigating the historically high volatility and drawdowns of this fast-growing and high-performing asset,” he added.
More Bitcoin ETFs Are Coming in 2025
More funds are expected to launch in 2025 as President Trump takes office and the Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to become more friendly towards crypto.
Innovator and First Trust are among ETF issuers that have filed to launch funds strategy similar to that of Calamos. Firms are also looking at products that combine Bitcoin with income generation. These include planned covered call funds from issuers including Grayscale and Roundhill.
Calamos also has plans for so-called “floor” funds that offer 90% and 80% downside protection in exchange for more upside.
Investors looking to track different Bitcoin ETFs can look at TipRanks’ Bitcoin ETF Comparison tool.
