BlackRock has filed a Form 8-A with the SEC for its iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, a step that typically precedes a fund’s launch by about one week.
The filing was submitted on Thursday and registers the new securities under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
What the fund does
The iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF would offer spot bitcoin exposure combined with a yield-generating strategy.
It plans to actively sell call options primarily on IBIT, BlackRock’s existing spot bitcoin ETF and the largest fund of its kind.
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said the 8-A filing is a strong signal that trading is imminent:
“That typically means launch in one week. So if I had to bet I’d say next Thursday BITA goes live. We’ll see though.”
Competitive fee structure
The filing comes just days after BlackRock submitted its fourth amendment for the ETF, which set the sponsor’s fee at 0.65%.
That rate undercuts competing covered-call bitcoin ETFs already on the market.
Goldman Sachs not far behind
BlackRock isn’t the only major institution preparing a similar product.
Goldman Sachs is also working with the SEC on its own premium income bitcoin ETF, which was filed in April.
Balchunas previously estimated that Goldman’s fund could launch around July 1.
