Summary BTCI offers a unique structure, blending 20% Bitcoin exposure with 80% US Treasury bonds and options strategies. BTCI aims for high, stable income (38.38% yield), but limits upside in strong Bitcoin bull markets due to its covered call approach. BTCI's performance outpaces similar ETFs in 2025, yet its dividend yield trails competitors like YBTC and YBIT, and recent payouts are declining. Given current Bitcoin price risks and BTCI's balanced risk/reward, I rate BTCI as 'hold', favoring pure Bitcoin ETFs like IBIT for full upside. Investment thesis Not always all ETFs with Bitcoin in their name have a 100% correlation with changes in the value of the main asset of the cryptocurrency industry. The NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF ( BTCI ) is one such example. This is because of its unique structure, where its investment structure is unusual: its holdings are not 100% “pure” Bitcoin holdings. Recent data shows that cryptocurrency assets make up about 20% of the BTCI portfolio, with 15% invested in the VanEck Bitcoin ETF ( HODL ) and 5% in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ( IBIT ). What's interesting is that these two funds are direct competitors of BTCI in the battle for investments from people interested in the cryptocurrency industry. Considering the rapid development of the cryptocurrency ETF industry, NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF undoubtedly has a unique investment strategy and asset structure in its portfolio. This differentiates it from traditional spot funds, like the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, which I recommended buying not long ago. The goal of the BTCI fund managers, though, isn't to track the price of Bitcoin as closely as possible, but rather to generate stable income that can be used to pay shareholders. That said, for those investing in BTCI, it is important to remember that the ETF's high dividend yield comes at a price. That is to say, if the bull market resumes and the price of Bitcoin rises, its potential for capital growth will be limited. And then that dividend yield will not seem as attractive as the growth in market value of traditional cryptocurrency funds. Given the current factors and my overall assessment of BTCI's investment attractiveness, I give it a “Hold” rating. And in this article, I'll try to justify my decision, given that I consider BTCI a potential asset for future investments. Overview of NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF and the uniqueness of its strategy The majority of the ETF portfolio is concentrated in investments in US Treasury bonds (between 75% and 80%, depending on the time period). The rationale behind this decision is to secure collateral for the fund to trade options and to generate stable interest income to pay shareholders. And it is precisely the choice of BTCI's investment strategy, where Bitcoin options are traded (often Covered Call and Credit Call Spread strategies), that allows it to generate ultra-high dividend yields. But in order to ensure the security of funds when implementing such an investment strategy, considerable collateral is required, which are the very same US Treasury bonds. In the end, when you invest in BTCI, you choose a fund whose portfolio consists of only 20% of the underlying asset, Bitcoin. The remaining assets are a structure of option contracts and government bonds that allow you to simulate ownership of Bitcoin and generate monthly income for payments to shareholders. Along with this, BTCI lets you use synthetic exposure to Bitcoin. That is, when the underlying asset itself goes up, a fund makes money, but its upside potential is limited because of the call options it sold. If Bitcoin falls in price, then the fund loses the same amount as the market capitalization, but due to high monthly dividend payments, the drawdown is partially offset. Therefore, an analysis of the NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF portfolio structure reveals that the majority of securities in which the fund's clients' funds are invested are government securities (78.75%), whereas other assets in the form of Bitcoin account for only 20.23% of the total asset portfolio. The main concentration of assets is in short-term US government bonds, which allows the fund to secure collateral for its options strategy and generate stable interest income, which is added to shareholder payments (about 4% per annum). Holdings Breakdown BTCI Assessment In order to assess BTCI, let us first analyze the fund's historical progress in generating monthly returns. From inception to the ETF's October 30, 2025 reporting date, cumulative NAV performance is 53.03%, whereas Cumulative Market Performance is 53.12%. More detailed results are presented below, as reported on the BTCI website. Fund Performance Also, to evaluate GPIX, I would suggest looking at the change in its total return since the beginning of 2025 compared to its main competitors with similar investment strategies. These competitors are YieldMax Bitcoin Option Income Strategy ETF ( YBIT ), Roundhill Bitcoin Covered Call Strategy ETF ( YBTC ), VanEck Bitcoin ETF, and Amplify Bitcoin Max Income Covered Call ETF While BTCI has the best performance, although negative (-0.5%), the rest of the ETFs show progressively worse results, down to -9.89% ((BAGY)). Total Return Investment attractiveness factors in the BTCI rating include their high dividend yield , which is currently 38.38%. This yield is lower than that of competitors (excluding HODL, which does not pay dividends). For instance, YBTC has a dividend yield of 67.87%, whereas YBIT has a dividend yield of 87.61%. BTCI's dividend history since the fund's inception is shown below. Since October 2024, monthly payments have ranged from $1.13 to $1.57. At this point, starting in May 2025, we have seen a gradual decline in dividends (from $1.51 to $1.3). Dividend History I think that dividend payments aren't that volatile and are pretty stable, but change in a negative way. But the Dividend Yield itself has a clear trend of increasing returns, which is a definite plus when assessing the investment appeal of BTCI. But, if you've been investing in this ETF for a long time, it's definitely worth paying attention to the Yield On Cost indicator. And here we see the opposite situation, which demonstrates a different assessment—increased volatility in dividend yield. Yield On Cost Given its performance in terms of both asset management and dividend payments, the BTCI is an ETF whose main movement of funds demonstrates an inflow of additional investments. Based on data from the last year, total inflows into AUM amounted to $1.01 bln . The weekly inflows are shown in more detail in the chart below. The highest inflow of investments was during the week of September 22-28, when $114.84 mln of client funds entered the fund. The extreme week recorded an inflow of $22.46 mln. It should be noted that since July 2025, an increase in inflows has been observed, due to the recovery of the Bitcoin price. BTCI Fund Flow Chart Risks of the investment thesis I think that the risks of investing in BTCI are definitely tied to Bitcoin's price situation. I would also keep an eye on how the Fed's interest rate changes. The point is that the current monetary policy of easing monetary conditions leads to a decrease in the yield on US Treasury bonds. As a consequence, guaranteed additional returns on investments by BTCI portfolio managers, who use the bond payments to increase dividend payments to shareholders, also decrease. But at the same time, the Fed's rate cut is leading to an increase in financial market liquidity. Thanks to this, investors' appetite for risky assets is growing, which, of course, positively affects the price of cryptocurrencies. Coming back to the Bitcoin price situation, I suggest taking a look at the following weekly chart, which provides an assessment of the risks of investing in BTCI. What we have is an upward trend channel, whose lower boundary was broken after the key support level ($98,200) was breached. Consequently, the price is heading towards a key support zone ($74,500 - $78,200). I think this price zone is really important and could stop Bitcoin from falling even further. If it is broken and the price manages to consolidate below it, however, this will signal a potential reversal of the global uptrend to a downtrend. In such a case, making any investments in BTCI and other Bitcoin-related assets would be irrelevant. Bitcoin Technical Analysis on the 1W Timeframe Conclusion In summary, the results of my fundamental analysis of BTCI allow me to evaluate this ETF as an asset that has both upside and downside potential. I like the fund's investment strategy, which makes investing in Bitcoin more secure and reliable. However, the rapid growth of cryptocurrency assets will not allow investors to realize the full potential of investing in BTCI. Moreover, given the price risks observed on the current Bitcoin chart, my recommendation for this ETF is to “Hold.” This recommendation may be revised to “Buy,” however, allowing me to give it a “Hold” rating with a plus sign. P.S. I recommend holding not only because of the results of fundamental analysis and the balance between prospects and risks, but also due to my own reluctance to invest personal capital in BTCI. Currently, I have a selection of more interesting assets in my portfolio , like the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF ((IBIT)), which allows me to realize 100% of the bull market potential in the event of rapid Bitcoin growth. Although, in the period of declining market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market, such assets as BTCI are in a more advantageous position.
