Nicholas Wealth Launches Nicholas Crypto Income ETF (BLOX), Offering Diversified Crypto Exposure with an Income Component

Nicholas Wealth, a leading provider of actively-managed income ETFs, today announced the launch of the Nicholas Crypto Income ETF (BLOX), an actively-managed ETF product designed to give investors diversified exposure to the crypto ecosystem while generating potential income through a proprietary options overlay strategy.

BLOX, launched in partnership with Tidal Investments LLC, offers investors access to both the growth potential of the digital asset market and an income stream that is often absent from traditional crypto investments. The fund combines three complementary components within a single structure:

Equity Portfolio: The first sleeve invests in publicly-traded companies involved in various segments of the crypto economy, including crypto mining, trading platforms, blockchain technology providers, financial services firms, and companies holding significant crypto assets on their balance sheets.

Crypto Portfolio: The second sleeve provides direct exposure to Bitcoin and Ether through select U.S.-listed ETFs and exchange-traded products, with the flexibility to incorporate additional crypto-linked products as new regulated vehicles become available in the public markets.

Options Overlay: Finally, BLOX employs an actively-managed options overlay, primarily selling put spreads on the crypto sleeve and selectively writing covered calls or put spreads on equity holdings. Unlike many strategies that limit upside potential through capped call spreads, BLOX’s options approach allows for greater participation in asset appreciation while generating income.

“Investors are interested in the long-term potential of digital assets, but many are concerned about the volatility and lack of income that typically accompany crypto investments,” said David Nicholas, CEO of XFUNDS. “BLOX was built to solve for that, allowing investors to gain diversified crypto exposure while simultaneously seeking to generate cash flow through a conservative and repeatable options strategy.”

BLOX is designed for investors seeking diversified crypto exposure with an income component, as well as financial advisors looking for an accessible solution that better aligns with the income needs of retirees or risk-sensitive clients. By combining growth potential, income generation, and risk management in a single ETF, BLOX offers an approachable entry point for those who want exposure to the crypto economy without the full volatility of directly owning digital assets.

BLOX is the latest ETF in the XFUNDS by Nicholas Wealth suite. The Nicholas Fixed Income Alternative ETF (FIAX) launched in 2022 and seeks to provide income using U.S. Treasury fixed income securities and a defined risk option premium. In 2024, XFUNDS debuted the Nicholas Global Equity and Income ETF (GIAX), designed to offer exposure to global equities while selling index call spreads to generate income. Learn more about XFUNDS by Nicholas Wealth: https://nicholasx.com/

The Fund does not invest directly in bitcoin, ether, or any other digital assets. The Fund does not invest directly in derivatives that track the performance of bitcoin, ether, or any other digital assets. The Fund does not invest in or seek direct exposure to the current “spot” or cash price of bitcoin or ether. Investors seeking direct exposure to the price of bitcoin or ether should consider an investment other than the Fund. Although bitcoin and ether may each be referred to as a “cryptocurrency”, neither is yet widely accepted as a means of payment.

About Nicholas Wealth

At Nicholas Wealth Management, we believe in making a positive difference in the lives of our clients by staying true to our principles and keeping our promises. Since 2012, we’ve aimed to help individuals secure their financial future with the goal of generating income and preserving wealth. Building wealth takes years of discipline and hard work. Our comprehensive approach seeks to maximize the amount individuals get to keep from their hard-earned investment and retirement savings.

About Tidal Investments LLC

Formed by ETF industry pioneers and thought leaders, Tidal Investments LLC sets out to revolutionize the way ETFs have historically been developed, launched, marketed, and sold. With a focus on growing AUM, Tidal offers a comprehensive suite of services, proprietary tools, and methodologies designed to bring lasting ideas to market. Tidal is an advocate for ETF innovation. The firm is on a mission to provide issuers with the intelligence and tools needed to efficiently and to effectively launch ETFs and to optimize growth potential in a highly competitive space. For more information, visit https://www.tidalfinancialgroup.com/.

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the Fund, please call (855) 563-6900 or visit our website at www.nicholasx.com. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Investments involve risk. Principal loss is possible.

Underlying Fund Risk. The Fund’s investment strategy, involving indirect exposure to bitcoin and ether through one or more Underlying Funds, is subject to the risks associated with bitcoin and ether. Shareholders in the Fund bear both their proportionate share of expenses in the Fund and, indirectly, the expenses of the Underlying Funds.

Underlying Bitcoin and Ether Fund Risks: Investing in an Underlying Fund that focuses on bitcoin or ether, either through direct holdings or indirectly via derivatives like futures contracts and swaps, carries significant risks. These risks include high market volatility, which can be influenced by technological advancements, regulatory changes, and broader economic factors. When trading derivatives, liquidity risks and counterparty risks are substantial. Managing futures contracts can be complex and may affect the performance of an Underlying Fund. The use of swap transactions is a highly specialized activity, which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Additionally, each Underlying Fund, and consequently the Fund, is dependent on blockchain technology, which brings technological and cybersecurity risks, along with custodial challenges for securely storing digital assets. The constantly evolving regulatory and legal landscape presents continuous compliance and valuation difficulties. Risks related to market concentration and network issues in the digital asset sector further add complexity. Moreover, operational intricacies in managing digital assets and potential market volatility can lead to losses for each Underlying Fund.

Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions.

Counterparty Risk. The Fund is subject to counterparty risk by virtue of its investments in option contracts which exposes the Fund to the risk that the counterparty will not fulfill its obligation to the Fund.

Equity Market Risk. By virtue of the Fund’s investments in option contracts equity ETFs and equity indices, the Fund is exposed to common stocks indirectly which subjects the Fund to equity market risk.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may actively and frequently trade all or a significant portion of the Fund’s holdings. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses.

Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund.

Hedging Transactions Risk. Hedging transactions involve risks different than those of underlying investments. In particular, the variable degree of correlation between price movements of hedging transactions and price movements in the position being hedged means that losses on the hedge may be greater than gains in the value of the Fund’s positions, opportunities for gain may be limited or that there may be losses on both parts of a transaction.

Illiquid Investments Risk. The Fund may, at times, hold illiquid investments, by virtue of the absence of a readily available market for certain of its investments, or because of legal or contractual restrictions on sales.

Interest Rate Risk. The value of the Fund’s investments in fixed income Treasury securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates.

New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors do not have a track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.

Distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

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