BlackRock is extending its bitcoin lineup beyond spot exposure. The firm's iShares Trust submitted a prospectus for the iShares Bitcoin Managed Protection ETF to the SEC on October 19, under the proposed ticker PBIT.

The fund aims to track gains in IBIT, BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF, up to a limit while offering a level of downside protection. It will not hold bitcoin or bitcoin ETPs directly. Instead it runs three overlapping tranches of call spreads, mostly FLEX options, with one tranche rolling each month, plus a fixed-income sleeve to offset option costs.

Each tranche's protection typically starts at about 90% of IBIT's value, setting an initial maximum loss of roughly 10% before fees.

The upside cap depends on market conditions when each tranche starts, so it will vary over time. The management fee, listing exchange and launch date are still blank, and the draft prospectus is dated 2027. The product follows BlackRock's covered-call Bitcoin Premium Income ETF and still needs to clear the SEC review process before trading.