As of June 9, 2026, after the market close, Bitcoin is down 29.3% year-to-date and trading at approximately $61,798 per coin. That also represents a decline of roughly 50% from its all-time high of $122,260 reached on October 4, 2025. Then again, if you’re a long-term Bitcoin investor, this kind of volatility comes with the territory.
One silver lining is that investors today have tools that simply did not exist during prior crypto bear markets. Since the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, options investors have been able to create different payoff profiles, generate income, and even reduce downside risk without directly touching cryptocurrency exchanges.
Some of those strategies can become quite complex. Today, we’re keeping things simple. Rather than diving into multi-leg option combinations, we’re going to look at one of the most straightforward income strategies available: the cash-secured put using the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT).
What Is a Cash-Secured Put?
A cash-secured put is one of the most basic option strategies available. When you sell a put option, you are giving another investor the right, but not the obligation, to sell 100 shares of a stock or ETF to you at a predetermined strike price before expiration.
Because you could potentially be required to purchase those shares, your broker requires enough cash in your account to cover the obligation. Hence the term cash-secured. Think of it as getting paid to place a limit order. For example, suppose a stock trades at $100 but you only want to own it at $90. Instead of entering a limit order, you could sell a $90 put and collect a premium upfront.
There are generally two possible outcomes. If the stock remains above the strike price at expiration, the option expires worthless. You keep the premium and walk away. If the stock falls below the strike price, you may be assigned shares at that strike price. You still keep the premium, but now own the stock at a unrealized loss.
This can be useful for value investors who have identified a company they would like to own but believe current valuations are too high. The same logic can apply to Bitcoin. If you’re comfortable owning Bitcoin at lower prices, selling puts on a Bitcoin ETF allows you to get paid while waiting for that opportunity to arise.
How Much Could You Earn With IBIT?
As of June 9, 2026, IBIT trades at approximately $35 per share. Since one option contract controls 100 shares, selling a cash-secured put requires enough cash to potentially purchase those shares if assigned. In practice, that means roughly $3,500 in capital per contract before commissions.
Personally, I generally prefer selling more out-of-the-money puts. Selling at-the-money contracts generates higher premiums, but in a bear market it also substantially increases the likelihood of assignment. There’s no free lunch here!
I also tend to prefer expiration dates roughly 20 to 30 days away. Weekly options can generate more premium over time, but they require more active management. The 20- to 30-day window tends to provide a reasonable balance between premium collection and time decay, also known as theta.
For example, let’s look at the June 30 expiration with a $33 strike price. The option is currently quoted with a bid of $0.82 and an ask of $0.89. Using the midpoint gives us an estimated premium of $0.85 per share. Because each contract represents 100 shares, that works out to approximately $85 in premium collected upfront. Against the roughly $3,500 of capital required to secure the position, that’s a yield of approximately 2.4% over the life of the trade (21 days).
From there, two outcomes are possible. If IBIT finishes above $33 at expiration, the option expires worthless. You keep the entire premium and your cash becomes available for the next trade. If IBIT finishes below $33, you may be assigned 100 shares at $33 per share. You still keep the premium, effectively reducing your net purchase cost, but have to own the ETF.
One advantage of cash-secured puts is that you do not need to put all your capital into a single strike price. Suppose you have enough capital to sell four contracts. Rather than placing all four at the $33 strike, you could ladder them at $33, $32, $31, and $30. Alternatively, you could keep the strike constant but spread the expiration dates across multiple months.
There are plenty of ways to customize the strategy based on your risk tolerance and outlook. The key takeaway is that if you’re already comfortable owning Bitcoin-related exposure at lower prices, cash-secured puts can provide a way to earn income while waiting for that opportunity.
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