BITA vs CEPI

BITAAThe iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF

CEPIBREX Crypto Equity Premium Income ETF

In short

BITA BlackRock's take on the bitcoin income trade: own actual bitcoin, then sell calls on only a quarter to a third of it. Most crypto covered-call funds hand over the upside to buy the yield. This one is built to leave most of it on the table.

CEPI Crypto exposure without the coins. CEPI owns a basket of miners, exchanges and digital-payment stocks, then sells options against them for income, so the sector's volatility becomes the fuel for the premium.

Stated mandate

BITA The Trust seeks to reflect the performance of bitcoin while generating premium income through an actively managed strategy of selling call options primarily on IBIT shares and, from time to time, on ETP indices.

CEPI The fund seeks current income and capital appreciation, while targeting most of the returns of the S&P 500 Total Return Index with lower volatility and additional income.

Why people hold it

• BITA Holds spot bitcoin and IBIT shares directly, and the sponsor aims to write calls on a predetermined 25% to 35% of notional value, leaving the majority of the position unwritten.sec.gov
• 0.65% expense ratio, below the 0.85% typical of crypto options-income funds and at the low end of the category's strongest implementations (BTCC 0.66%, CEPI 0.85%, YBTC 0.96%).
• The partnership wrapper earns its keep: IBIT options are Section 1256 contracts eligible for 60/40 blended rates, and partnerships skip forced year-end capital gain distributions.ishares.com
• Among the better-built options in a crowded crypto income shelf, with the calls written on IBIT, the deepest-traded bitcoin ETP options market.ishares.com

• CEPI Charges 0.85% a year, below the 0.96% median for crypto-linked income funds.
• Spreads across roughly 80 crypto and digital-payment stocks from the BITA Crypto Assets & Digital Payments Index, rather than leaning on one bitcoin proxy.
• Sits in the top quartile of the crypto-income group we track, one of the stronger builds in a crowded niche.
• A plain 1940 Act fund holding stocks, not coins: no wallet, no exchange account, 1099 at tax time.

Worth knowing

• BITA That same partnership structure means a Schedule K-1 instead of a 1099, which lands later in tax season and can add filing steps.ishares.com
• Calls written on part of the book cap gains on that slice. The premium income is paid for with upside, not conjured from thin air.sec.gov
• Launched in 2026 and structured as a trust outside the Investment Company Act, so the record is short and it trades lighter than the category's biggest names.sec.gov

• CEPI Writing options for income trades away part of any big rally in crypto equities. Premium now, capped upside later.
• A December 2024 launch that still trades lightly next to the giant income ETFs, so spreads can run wider.
• Exposure leans on derivatives, including synthetic single-stock positions, so the options book drives results as much as the shares behind it.

Full BITA profile⁠

Full CEPI profile⁠