New ETFs that combine bitcoin exposure and options are coming in 2025

Bitcoin ETFs were a hit with investors in 2024, and now asset management firms are starting to build out ways to combine crypto and derivatives in exchange-traded packages.

New products are set to roll out this month. Asset manager Calamos announced Monday that it will launch a structured protection ETF that aims to give investors a way to capture some of bitcoin's upside with 100% downside protection.

The fund will combine options exposure on the Cboe Bitcoin U.S. ETF Index with Treasury holdings and is designed to be held for 12 months. The exact upside cap will be determined Jan. 22, based on options pricing. It will be traded under the ticker CBOJ.

The fund is essentially bringing a popular equity ETF strategy to crypto investing. Defined outcome products, including buffer funds, have boomed in recent years as investors look for new ways to diversify their portfolios. Their gain in popularity was seemingly helped by the 2022 market sell-off, when stocks and bonds both declined.

Spot bitcoin funds launched in January 2024 and had arguably the best debut in ETF history. The funds combined to rake in tens of billions of dollars and helped fuel bitcoin's run to a record high above $100,000.

The inflows and the crypto rally pushed the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), the most popular of the funds, over $50 billion in total assets.

However, Matt Kaufman, head of ETFs at Calamos, said his team believes that financial advisors are still largely avoiding bitcoin because of its volatility history, and that these structured funds can win them over.

"For folks looking to access that space, they want to do so in a risk-managed framework, or something that makes a little more sense for their portfolio," Kaufman said. He also thinks