BlackRock Plans New Bitcoin Fund to Protect Investors From Big Losses

After bitcoin lost more than half its value over the past year, the world's biggest investment company wants to offer a safer way to bet on the famous cryptocurrency.

BlackRock (BLK) — the largest asset manager (a company that invests money on behalf of clients) on Earth — filed paperwork on Monday to launch a new fund. It's called the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protect ETF.

An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is like a basket of investments you can buy and sell on the stock market, just like a single stock. This new ETF would let people profit when bitcoin's price goes up, while shielding them from some losses when it falls.

Why this matters: Bitcoin is famously wild. Here's what happened recently:

• Bitcoin crashed as much as 52% from its record high of about $126,000
• A rival fund from Calamos Investments (its "protected bitcoin ETF") lost just 1% during the same period
• BlackRock's main bitcoin fund, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), holds over $65 billion in assets

How does this protection trick work? The Calamos fund puts about 90% of its money into U.S. Treasuries (super-safe government loans that pay steady interest) and uses the remaining 10% to buy options (contracts that bet on bitcoin's price). This combination lets investors share in bitcoin's rise — up to a limit — while cushioning the fall.

The catch: This safety comes with a trade-off. You usually can't capture ALL of bitcoin's gains. There's typically a cap (a maximum amount you can earn). BlackRock hasn't yet revealed exactly how much protection or how much upside its fund will offer.

This is part of a bigger trend. In June, BlackRock also launched a Bitcoin Premium Income Fund (BITA), designed to pay investors monthly income from holding bitcoin.

Bottom line: Big financial firms are racing to make bitcoin feel less scary for everyday investors. These "protected" funds aim to let cautious people join the crypto world without risking massive losses — a sign that bitcoin is becoming more mainstream.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/10/20/blackrock-seeks-to-shield-bitcoin-investors-from-losses-after-rival-fund-weathers-50-crash