Major cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale Investments announced two new Bitcoin outcome-oriented exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

According to an April 2 announcement, the new products are the Grayscale Bitcoin Covered Call ETF (BTCC) and the Grayscale Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (BPI). According to an email sent to Cointelegraph, the two new Bitcoin (BTC) funds are meant to generate revenue by harnessing BTC volatility:

“Both strategies may be considered as an alternative income stream that’s less correlated to traditional income-oriented investments.“

A complex derivative product

The Bitcoin Covered Call product seeks to capture the highest premiums and maximize potential income. Grayscale suggests that it may serve as a complement to Bitcoin exposure.

Related: Bitcoin traders are overstating the impact of the US-led tariff war on BTC price

The fund’s strategy involves systematically writing calls very close to spot prices. The hope is that, due to Bitcoin’s historically high volatility, it would generate income through paid call generation.

On the other hand, the Bitcoin Premium Income product seeks to balance upside participation with a degree of income generation. This is meant to act as an alternative to direct Bitcoin ownership and seeks a balance between growth and income generation.

This fund systematically writes calls targeting strike prices well out-of-the-money on Bitcoin ETFs, including Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC). The announcement reads:

“By focusing on this type of call writing strategy, BPI allows investors to participate in much of Bitcoin’s upside potential while possibly benefiting from some dividend income.“

Related: Bitcoin price gearing up for next leg of ‘acceleration phase’ — Fidelity research

Grayscale Investments promises that both the new products will allow for a differentiated source of revenue that “delivers an uncorrelated source of income for investors.” Furthermore, the new derivatives will feature monthly distributions and systematic options management.

Just the latest grayscale filing

Earlier this week, Grayscale also filed to list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding a diverse basket of spot cryptocurrencies. This new product includes Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), XRP, Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA).

In late March, the US stock exchange Nasdaq also filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking permission to list Grayscale Investments’ spot Avalanche ETF. Grayscale’s website lists 28 crypto products, of which 25 are single-asset derivatives, and three are diversified.

Grayscale is also among the asset managers currently waiting for the approval of its XRP spot ETF, as well as other products. Among those products, we can find the spot Cardano ETF filing and its Litecoin Trust conversion to an ETF. 

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

Opinion by: James Strudwick, executive director, Starknet Foundation

The outlook surrounding the use of new technologies has shifted in Washington. Tesla CEO and presidential adviser Elon Musk’s proposition to incorporate blockchain technology into the US Treasury has placed blockchain and its use for state finances at the forefront of the global debate. According to Musk, much of this drive is rooted in the concern over the unsustainability of current government spending. With its immutable ledgers and transparent audit trails, blockchain is waiting in the wind, offering a potential solution to managing vast public finances. 

Musk advocates for a unified information system that can track real-time payments, credentials and government resources, spurring a debate within the fintech community about the pros and cons of introducing such a tool at the government level. The idea is compelling, as the description on the blockchain tin effectively promises accountability, traceability and streamlined operations. The shift here, namely to a blockchain-powered government infrastructure, presents several challenges that may prove to be beyond what the new administration has expected thus far.

Blockchain as state appendage 

A concern for stakeholders orbiting the blockchain world revolves around the sheer scale of government operations. Every day, the US government handles thousands of transactions across various departments. The feasibility of Musk’s vision is put into question simply as a result of its own complexity. The provable security that blockchain technology must offer while handling millions of daily transactions without buckling under the load to succeed at this scale is enormous.

A proposed solution by Musk is a hybrid model that uses “Validium” zero-knowledge rollups. The speed and efficiency of modern ZK-rollups, which can handle hundreds of millions of transactions daily, have the potential to make sure each citizen’s share of government transactions is intact and verifiable. The technology’s rapidly evolving nature, scaling to handle even higher transaction volumes in the coming years, indicates that this could be achievable.

Unfortunately, this in itself comes with its own hurdles, particularly when integrating public services, which tend to operate in silos.

The human question

The great irony here is that Musk’s declarations of government inefficiency as a reason for the ongoing shakeups could be one of the biggest reasons not to go ahead with the plan. The real obstacle here is not so much technological as it is deeply, irrevocably human. The transition from archaic legacy systems to the more modern infrastructure of blockchain requires not just software updates but an entire reprogramming of the workforce. Government employees embedded in bureaucracy are used to outdated systems, and retraining them will be no small task.

Recent: US housing dept mulls blockchain, stablecoin to pay and monitor grants: Report

Moreover, current government databases are a labyrinth of poorly documented, indecipherable data. Extracting and migrating this data to a blockchain infrastructure is itself a task that may require serious investment. For all its elegance, blockchain wasn’t built to contend with such inefficiency. Despite its potential for handling complex, distributed environments, the difficulties present in the system itself could make the transition more complicated than the hassle is worth.

Balancing transparency and confidentiality 

Transparency of federal spending is also a factor worth highlighting. The innate strength of blockchain and its much-lauded appeal is its strength. It permits citizens to track how public funds are allocated and spent. Musk’s premise could foster a so-far unseen level of accountability, which makes transactions, every delegation of power and every resource distribution visible to the public in real-time. 

The problem is that sensitive government data, classified information or personal identification could be dangerously exposed on a public blockchain. Musk’s response is to try to tether sensitive data to private channels in the blockchain and ensure that only individuals with the appropriate authorization or from specific departments can access confidential information. Theoretically, this addresses the security concern while allowing blockchain’s public verifiability.

Musk’s offer could lead to a more efficient, accountable system. The social drive behind this is the longstanding criticism of wasted spending and resource misallocation. There is also a possibility of strengthening democratic processes by holding public officials more accountable. A decentralized authority has the broader impact of empowering citizens through real-time access.

There is a forward-thinking aspect to the vision. It raises a profound question. Technology could address human governance challenges, but we run the risk of a fundamental shift in how we understand privacy and accountable authority. As we question the nature of governance, it warrants careful consideration of the role of blockchain and what it could ultimately mean for the future of society as a whole.

Opinion by: James Strudwick, executive director, Starknet Foundation.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Bitcoin (BTC) reached new April highs at the April 2 Wall Street open as markets braced for US “Liberation Day.”

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin teases breakout in US tariff countdown

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed local highs of $86,444 on Bitstamp, the best performance for BTC/USD since March 28.

Volatility remained in the run-up to US President Donald Trump announcing a sweeping round of reciprocal trade tariffs.

The measures would be unveiled in an address from the White House Rose Garden at 4 pm Eastern Time, with Trump then holding a press conference.

While US stocks traded slightly down after the open, Bitcoin managed to claw back lost ground, acting in a key area of interest filled with long-term trend lines.

As Cointelegraph reported, these include various simple (SMA) and exponential (EMA) moving averages, among them the 200-day SMA — a classic bull market support line currently lost.  

BTC/USD 1-day chart with 200 SMA. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

In his latest observations, popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital made additional reference to the 21-week and 50-week EMAs.

“The consolidation between the two Bull Market EMAs continues. However, the 21-week EMA (green) represents lower prices as it declines,” he wrote in a post on X alongside an illustrative chart.

“This week the green EMA represents $87650. The declining nature of this EMA will make it easier for $BTC to breakout.”

BTC/USD 1-week chart with 21, 50 EMA. Source: Rekt Capital/X

Rekt Capital flagged more bullish news in the making, thanks to BTC/USD attempting to break out of an extended downtrend on daily timeframes.

He confirmed:

“Bitcoin is one Daily Candle Close above & retest of the Downtrend away from breaking out into a new technical uptrend.”

BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X

Last month, Bitcoin’s daily relative strength index (RSI) metric broke free from its own downtrend that had been in place since November 2024.

Analysis warns $76,000 BTC price may return

Continuing on the macro picture, however, trading firm QCP Capital was uninspired.

Related: Bitcoin sales at $109K all-time high ‘significantly below’ cycle tops — Glassnode

Risk assets, it told Telegram channel subscribers on the day, were likely to “remain under pressure” following the tariffs announcement.

“In crypto, sentiment remains broadly subdued. BTC continues to trade without conviction, while ETH is holding the line at $1,800 support. Across the board, crypto markets are showing signs of exhaustion with numerous coins down 90% YTD, with some shedding over 30% in the past week,” it summarized. 

“Without a material shift in macro or a compelling catalyst, we don’t expect a meaningful reversal. While light positioning could support a grind higher, we’re not chasing any upside moves until the broader macro picture improves.”

Previous tariff moves in Q1 almost unanimously delivered downward BTC price reactions.

Other industry participants were more hopeful, including asset management firm Swissblock, which argued that “no sign of an imminent collapse” occurred on Bitcoin.

“Will $BTC hold as a hedge, or follow TradFi into a pullback?” it queried in an X thread on March 31, describing BTC price action as being “at a crossroads.”

Bitcoin price momentum chart. Source: Swissblock/X

Swissblock saw the potential for a return to $76,000 multimonth lows in the event of a negative reaction — a drop of 11% versus current levels.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.