- Calamos is launching a Bitcoin ETF with 100% downside protection called CBOJ in January.
- The ETF combines U.S. Treasury bonds and Bitcoin-related options to reduce investment risk.
- CBOJ features an annual protection reset and places a cap on potential gains as part of its risk-management approach.
Calamos Investments will introduce a new Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that offers full downside protection. The fund, named CBOJ, is scheduled to list on the Cboe Options Exchange on January 22 and aims to provide a way to participate in Bitcoin’s upside while minimizing the risk of losses.
Calamos’ Structured Protection ETF series
CBOJ expands on Calamos’ Structured Protection ETF series launched in 2024, which used similar protective strategies for equity benchmarks such as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100. By applying those same principles to Bitcoin exposure, Calamos intends to serve advisors, institutions, and individual investors seeking growth potential without the full force of cryptocurrency volatility.
Bitcoin’s price history has shown significant swings that often discourage conservative investors. The CBOJ ETF is designed so investors retain their principal even if the price of Bitcoin declines, addressing a key barrier to crypto adoption among risk-averse market participants.
The fund achieves this protection by allocating capital to U.S. Treasury securities while using options linked to a Cboe Bitcoin US ETF Index. This combination aims to provide a transparent, regulated vehicle that offers meaningful exposure to Bitcoin’s price movements with an embedded risk-management layer.
Annual protection reset and capped upside
A distinctive feature of CBOJ is its annual protection reset. Each year the fund resets the downside protection for the coming 12 months and establishes a new cap on potential gains. This structure provides ongoing protection while setting investor expectations about the tradeoff between security and upside participation.
By resetting protection annually, the ETF adapts to changing market conditions and preserves the fund’s core objective: protecting investors from losses while allowing for some participation in Bitcoin’s appreciation.
“Many investors have been hesitant to invest in Bitcoin due to its epic volatility,” said Matt Kaufman, Head of ETFs at Calamos. “Calamos seeks to meet advisor, institutional, and investor demands for solutions that capture Bitcoin’s growth potential while mitigating the historically high volatility and drawdowns of the asset.”
ETFs are pooled investment vehicles that trade on exchanges like individual stocks and can hold a variety of underlying assets. CBOJ intends to give investors exposure to Bitcoin’s price behavior without requiring direct ownership of the cryptocurrency. That structure, combining Treasury holdings with options overlays, is particularly attractive to investors who want to limit downside risk while retaining some exposure to crypto market gains.
As derivatives-based Bitcoin ETFs become more common, market observers expect other firms may introduce similar protected or structured products to appeal to conservative investors and financial advisors seeking lower-volatility ways to access digital-asset returns.