Gold continues trading to new record high prices. Bitcoin has struggled to break into recent record levels above $100,000, but continues to find more mainstream adoption. But both the classic market safe haven and its high-risk new crypto rivals are doing something else besides moving on the charts for investors. Among some exchange sales funds, they generate income.
Investors want exposure to alternative assets that do not move to Lockstep on stocks and bonds. It’s also a record price, with returns currently focusing on just a handful of megacap technology stocks representing around 40% of the S&P 500. Meanwhile, bonds are trading at greater volatility than their historic role in the classic 60-40 portfolio, leaving the comfortable investors as regular components as components of traditional portfolios.
Even if bond reliability is low, investors still want a stable income distribution associated with bonds. Attaching income overlays to non-height alternatives such as gold and bitcoin is one way to meet the requirements of these investors.
“If your goal is to provide hedge against stock and bond market volatility, gold can provide a slightly safe haven. If you’re looking for reward opportunities, Bitcoin can be extremely rewarding.”
“If you’re looking for a variety of ways to earn money, these covered calling strategies here are becoming increasingly popular,” he added.
The latest indication that Wall Street thinks this approach can work came this week when BlackRock, the largest ETF company, applied for the Bitcoin Premium Income ETF through the world’s largest asset manager, Ishares family.
Simplify Asset Management was one of the first to test this approach. Simplify its Simplify Gold Strategy Plus Income ETF (YGLD) (YGLD) and Bitcoin Strategy Plus Income ETF (MAXI) and add an option strategy to the top to generate income by exposing it to gold or Bitcoin futures.
“For clients who fund this from their bond portfolio, they don’t have to sacrifice their potential for revenue,” says Paisley Nardini, managing director and head of multi-asset solutions at Simplify, in “ETF Edge.”
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Gold and Bitcoin performance in 2025.
Some financial advisors have argued that larger allocations will go to cryptocurrency as 60-40 portfolios cannot be offered to investors in the past few decades.
When it comes to investor recruitment, these ETFs remain relatively small. And compared to traditional exposure to these alternatives, it’s not even close.
According to Vettafi, the Simplify Bitcoin Strategy Plus Income ETF has over $51 million under its management assets. iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) is its largest holding (approximately 83% of the fund) and has assets of approximately $85 billion.
According to Vettafi, YGLD has around $44 million in assets. Traditional gold ETFs remain much larger. For example, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) has approximately $120 billion under its management assets. SPDRGold Mini Shares Trust manages more than $20 billion in assets.
Neos Investments’ NEOS Gold High Income ETF (IAUI) also aims to provide monthly income by combining gold exposure with enhanced profits from sales cover call options. According to Vettafi, IAUI has over $115 million in assets.
Still, Rosenbluth said the approach indicates that investors are rethinking how to build their portfolio. BlackRock’s decision to provide ETFs in Bitcoin’s revenue space will help to further confirm that the market is interested in finding new ways to invest in these alternatives.
Gold has long been treated as a safe haven, but Bitcoin has been used as a dangerous diversification device. Adding revenue overlays will change these roles, Rosenbruce said, but it’s meeting the growing demand. Income overlays will slow down the quality of performance that makes gold attractive and reduce the rise in returns that attract investors to Bitcoin. However, Rosenbluth said it could appeal to some investors who are particularly looking for high yields, particularly retail investors.
“When you see high levels of revenue starting a strategy, that’s what attracts investors’ attention, especially at the retail level,” Nardini said in “ETF Edge.”
The revenue approach with covered call options has exploded in popularity in ETF spaces outside the context of gold and bitcoin, with stock funds like JPMorgan’s JEPI leading new approaches to stock investments, while other new ETFs combine exposure to stock groups such as Warren Buffett’s picks, Warren Buffett’s picks, or Warren Buffett’s picks, or Bill Ackman’s Portfurio.
Rosenbluth added that bringing these strategies to the ETF structure reflects the increased adoption of ETFs as an approach that relies on market exposure. “I think it’s easy to use. It’s a more efficient way to access the market and use ETFs,” Rosenbluth said.
