Volt to Launch Crypto-Centric Equity Fund With Options Leverage

(Bloomberg) -- A tiny exchange-traded fund issuer is looking to provide investors with crypto-related exposure that’s also juiced up via stock options.

The Volt Crypto Industry Revolution and Tech ETF, which will trade under the ticker BTCR, is set to launch Thursday and will offer exposure to Bitcoin-centric companies as well as options on those stocks. The fund will be actively managed with a 0.85% fee and trade on NYSE Arca. 

“Instead of aiming to be a vanilla 1:1 Bitcoin tracker, we’re excited that BTCR gives investors the potential for outperformance by being the first ETF to overlay advanced investment management techniques, like employing call options, on top of the Bitcoin industry,” Tad Park, Volt’s chief executive officer, said in emailed comments. “With BTCR, we want to make premier crypto-related management accessible in the form of an ETF.”

The ETF could include crypto miners like Bitfarms Ltd., as well as shares of Tesla Inc., which holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet. Additionally, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) will be up to 15% of the holdings and companies including Square Inc. and Twitter Inc. could also be included. Meanwhile, Canadian ETFs and private funds will be excluded.

Volt said in a filing BTCR could invest up to 25% of its assets “in a single analytics software company.” David Kim, head of growth at Volt, said that refers to MicroStrategy Inc., which is run by noted Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor. 

In the U.S., there are no ETFs tracking the price of Bitcoin, but two futures-based funds launched last week to much excitement. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF accumulated more than $1 billion in assets in just days after its launch while Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF has seen inflows of more than $45 million. 

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