Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BTCI vs IBIT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BTCI returned −27.4% to IBIT's −28.5%, and IBIT charges 0.25% to BTCI's 0.99%.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $1.4bn for NEOS Bitcoin High Income ETF and $65.4bn for iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF.
Pair scorecard
IBIT costs 0.74 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.1 points; IBIT is far larger, $65.4bn against $1.4bn.
| Measure | BTCI | IBIT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −27.4% | −28.5% |
| Price change, 1 year | fell 44.4% | |
| Latest payout, annualized | 25.8% | |
| Return of capital, issuer estimate | 92% of the Oct 23, 2026 payment | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Benchmark: Bitcoin (BTC-USD) | Bitcoin |
| Against its benchmark, same days | ahead by 0.9 pts | |
| Against Bitcoin, same days | 0.2% behind | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.99% | 0.25% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $1.4bn | $65.4bn |
| Reports to the SEC on | 10-K, not N-PORT | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 25, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 104 weekly returnsIBIT returned more: +20.9% to +15.6%. BTCI swung less: 36.1% to 42.8%. BTCI fell slightly less at its worst: −46.9% to −51.5%.
Full scorecard
9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BTCI | IBIT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +15.6% | +20.9% | IBIT | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +7.5% | +10.0% | IBIT | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −33.3% | +20.9% | IBIT | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 36.1% | 42.8% | BTCI | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 25.2% | 27.6% | BTCI (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −46.9% | −51.5% | BTCI (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.27 | 0.34 | IBIT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.39 | 0.52 | IBIT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Calmar | 0.16 | 0.19 | IBIT | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 104 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BTCI and IBIT hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Oct 28, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
BTCI and IBIT on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. Cash paid: distributions over the window, as a share of the starting price.
BTCI and IBIT do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. BTCI is measured against Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and IBIT follows Bitcoin.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 28, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
- Cost. BTCI charges 0.99% of assets a year and IBIT 0.25%, a gap of 0.74 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BTCI
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BTCI paid 16.4% of its starting value in cash distributions while its price fell 44.4%. With every distribution reinvested, the fund returned −27.4%. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) returned −28.3% over the same days, so a holder was ahead by 0.9 pts. At its price on Oct 28, 2026 the latest distribution annualizes to 25.8%, paid monthly. NEOS estimates that 92% of the distribution paid Oct 23, 2026 was a return of capital (its 19a-1 notice). That is a tax label, not a measure of erosion.
That leaves it 0.16 of a percentage point behind.
IBIT holds Bitcoin through a custodian and trades on an exchange, so a holder gets the coin’s return inside a brokerage account rather than a wallet. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, Bitcoin moved −28.3% and IBIT returned −28.5%. That difference is the fee, the custody cost, the friction of creating and redeeming shares in blocks, and whatever the market paid for the shares rather than for the coin, all of it together. It is the only number on this page the sponsor does not publish itself. IBIT charges 0.25% a year and finished 0.2% behind Bitcoin, so the fee is almost the whole of the difference. A spot trust is not a registered investment company. It files a 10-K rather than an N-PORT, and its holding is one line: the Bitcoin it custodies.
Questions people ask
- Are BTCI and IBIT in the same category?
- BTCI is an option-income ETF and IBIT is a spot crypto ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, BTCI or IBIT?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, BTCI returned −27.4% and IBIT −28.5%.
- Which is cheaper, BTCI or IBIT?
- IBIT is cheaper, by 0.74 percentage points a year. That is about $74 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.
How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, BTCI against IBIT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/btci-vs-ibit
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BTCI against IBIT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/btci-vs-ibit
[BTCI against IBIT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/btci-vs-ibit)
Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.