Let’s get straight to it. “CBOL” is the ticker of the Calamos Laddered Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF®, which could prove to be one of the more useful ways of playing the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value over the near-term.
CBOL is one of an array of “structured alt” Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the Calamos lineup. Some of the Calamos ETFs are CBOL holdings, meaning this ETF is a fund of funds and that status is material over the near-term.
To be sure, CBOL isn’t a high-octane leveraged ETF meant to be held for a day or a few days and then sold. The Calamos fund is appropriate for clients that want to be engaged with Bitcoin over the long haul while commanding some income and protection from the digital currency’s often steep pullbacks. The four ETFs held by CBOL have protection ranging from just over 97% to slightly above 100%, so does in fact have buffering qualities.
(Image: Calamos)
CBOL’s protective properties are what makes the ETF a compelling idea over the near-term. Here’s why.
Bitcoin Entering a Tenuous Time
Following a nice run to the upside, one featuring a run past $80,000, in August, Bitcoin has given back some though not all of those gains, indicating a consolidation period is afoot. Alone, that could support the case for CBOL.
Speaking of support for this Calamos ETF, the Federal Reserve and the fate of the Clarity Act are supportive of reasons to consider CBOL imminently. For starters, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets this week and while it’s widely expected that the Fed will hike interest rates, that could be confirmation that the monetary debasement trade is alive and well, potentially sparking Bitcoin prices in the process.
“A Treasury buyback attracted only about $5.19 billion in transactions against a $6 billion ceiling, tempering expectations of an open-ended liquidity backstop,” notes Bitfire Research. “The 30-year Treasury yield climbed to around 5.37%, near a 19-year high. The European Central Bank also delivered a 25-basis-point hike with an anti-inflationary tone. Together, the moves pushed up the risk-free rate and increased the valuation and discount-rate pressure on crypto and other risk assets.”
Then there’s an expected procedural vote that is likely to determine the fate of the Clarity Act. Bitcoin already benefited from an August run-up that was sparked in part by crypto leaders meeting with President Trump, but if this legislation stumbles, CBOL’s protective properties will pay dividends.
“Given the bill’s size and concentrated conflicts of interest, lawmakers may ultimately advance it in separate pieces,” adds Bitfire. “The market is watching the September 15 procedural vote: clearing the 60-vote threshold could strengthen the policy case for compliant exchanges, stablecoins and regulated DeFi; a setback could trigger greater sentiment volatility than fundamental downside, as some of the negative outcome may already be priced in.”
More Reasons the Calendar Supports CBOL
Again, CBOL isn’t a short-term trading instrument, but there are more reasons why the Calamos fund would be a nice addition to tactical toolboxes over the near-term. Those include Bitcoin’s historical movements in the context of its four-year cycle.
If history repeats or even rhymes, one more sharp pullback could be in the cards for Bitcoin in the coming weeks before the digital currency puts in a bottom at some point in October.
With CBOL, investors don’t need to worry about perfect timing. They get the protection needed to endure another pullback while establishing positioning for a new bull market.
