Bitwise Is Shutting Down 6 Crypto Option ETFs That Promised 25% Payouts — Here's Why Those Returns Were an Illusion

WHY IT MATTERS

Imagine you put $100 into a savings jar, and every month someone hands you $2 back from that same jar and calls it 'income.' You'd feel like you're earning money, but your jar is actually shrinking. That's essentially what was happening with these ETFs. They used a strategy involving options — financial contracts that let you bet on price movements — to generate cash that was paid out to investors. But much of that cash wasn't real profit; it was investors' own money being returned to them. This matters because as more crypto investment products launch, it's important for everyday investors to understand that a high 'payout' number doesn't always mean you're actually making money. Always look at total return (your payout plus any change in your investment's value) rather than just the distribution rate.