Share this article
A $41B Investment Firm Wants to Stick With Just Bitcoin ETFs as Safer Bet
The investment firm and provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched three protected bitcoin ETFs earlier this year, but it won’t do the same for Ethereum.
Mar 25, 2025, 6:43 p.m.
What to know:
- Calamos has raised over $100 million for its trio of bitcoin-protected ETFs but has no immediate plans to expand into Ethereum products.
- The firm cites the lack of liquid Ethereum options and tools for effective hedging as key barriers to offering ETH exposure.
- Calamos remains focused on risk-managed offerings and has ruled out products tied to meme coins, calling for greater investor diligence.
Earlier this year, Calamos made its crypto debut with the launch of not one but three funds designed to protect investors from the volatility in bitcoin’s price.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
But the global investment management firm, which handles $41.3 billion in assets, is far from launching any other products beyond bitcoin, — even Ethereum , said its head of ETFs Matt Kaufman in an interview with CoinDesk.
Since their inception, Calamos’ protected BTC funds have attracted over $100 million from investors, which primarily include financial advisors.
For most firms looking to make an entrance into the crypto market, launching a bitcoin product is just the first step in a long journey that quickly extends to ethereum-based products. BlackRock, for example, applied to launch its spot bitcoin ETF (IBIT) in June 2023 and five months later, did the same for Ethereum .
“Ethereum doesn’t really meet our criteria for being able to effectively hedge that exposure,” he said. “It’s not a liquid asset, there’s no options on Ethereum ETPs so if those check boxes start to get built, we’ll explore it but right now it’s not on our radar.”
The Calamos Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF (CBOJ), Calamos Bitcoin 90 Series Structured Alt Protection ETF (CBXJ) and Calamos Bitcoin 80 Series Structured Alt Protection ETF (CBTJ) offer investors 80-100% downside protection with an upside cap rate of 10-55%.
This is achieved by using a combination of Treasuries and options on the CBOE Bitcoin US ETF Index. While Cboe Exchange has filed to list options tied to Ether ETFs, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January delayed its deadline to approve or deny the product. The Commission will have to stick to the final deadline in May, however.
Another asset class that Calamos won’t likely ever touch is meme coins, Kaufman said. “We’re a risk manager, so we build things we know will work,” he said. “From that perspective, I don’t have any opinion on meme coins but it’s not something I would ever do.”
Kaufman believes that the recent surge in applications for meme coin ETFs highlights the fact that investors have to do their due diligence. “We live in America, you have to know what you own. Freedom gives you choice and with choice comes responsibility,” he said.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Ethereum’s P2P Layer Is Improving Just as Institutional ETH Buys Pick Up
Early PeerDAS performance is proof that the Ethereum Foundation can now ship complex networking improvements at scale.
What to know:
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that the network is addressing its lack of peer-to-peer networking expertise, highlighting the progress of PeerDAS.
- PeerDAS, a prototype for Data Availability Sampling, is crucial for Ethereum's scalability and decentralization through sharding.
- BitMine Immersion Technologies has significantly increased its Ethereum holdings, viewing it as a strategic investment in the network's future scaling capabilities.
Top Stories
