BTCI review: total return vs IBIT, measured
BTCI, the NEOS Bitcoin High Income fund, pays out about a third of its price a year. Against simply holding IBIT on the same days, here is what it returned and how far it fell.
What BTCI is
BTCI is the NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF. It holds bitcoin exposure through exchange-traded products and sells options on bitcoin ETFs against it, paying the premium out monthly. It launched in October 2024. We compare it with IBIT, the iShares Bitcoin Trust, on the same days.
The record
From its first close on October 17, 2024 to midday November 13, 2026, BTCI returned about -0.6% a year with every distribution reinvested; IBIT returned about +0.9% a year. BTCI's share price fell about 45% while it paid out about 56% of its launch price. Over the last twelve months its payouts came to about 35% of the current price.
By year: 2024 from launch +28.2% against IBIT +39.4%; 2025 -1.1% against -6.4%; 2026 to mid November -22.2% against -22.0%. Its worst drawdown was -48.4% against IBIT's -53.3%. On monthly returns it caught about 87% of IBIT's up months and 91% of its down months.
What that means
BTCI behaved like bitcoin with a lid: it gave up part of the late 2024 rally, softened 2025 a little, and fell with bitcoin in 2026. The payout did not protect against a large fall, because the premium collected in a month is small next to a 20% move. This is the same shape as the single-stock funds in our YieldMax ETFs review, on a shorter record of about two years.
This is not advice for anyone's account. Compare total return against IBIT on the same days, never the yield, before buying.
How we measured
Daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance through midday November 13, 2026, split adjusted. Total return reinvests each distribution on its ex-date. Each fund is compared with what it tracks on exactly the same days, from the fund's first close. No taxes or trading costs are included, and past returns do not predict future ones. This is a measurement, not advice for anyone's account.
Measured from daily closes and distributions, every payout reinvested, each fund against its index on the same days. Past returns do not predict future ones. This is education, not a recommendation to buy or sell anything.