Binance taps into Bitcoin holders’ hunger for yield with new covered call yield play

Binance has introduced a product for Bitcoin holders looking to earn extra yield on their investment without selling any of it, joining the likes of BlackRock in helping them maximize returns.

The product, BTC Yield, is available inside Binance Earn and is designed exclusively for people who already hold bitcoin.

Users deposit their bitcoin into the product and receive an internal position called BTCY, which tracks their share in the strategy. Everything remains denominated in BTC, and the product cannot be funded with stablecoins or other assets.

Binance holds the deposited bitcoin as collateral while systematically selling BTC call options, that is, it writes insurance against price rallies in BTC. The call seller, or writer, gets compensated with a premium. Binance collects those premiums and shares most of them with participants.

This covered-call approach, common in crypto and traditional finance, has typically required deep options knowledge to execute. Binance’s version makes it accessible to regular traders by handling everything behind the scenes.

Two types of return

The product generates potential returns in two ways.

First, a portion of the collected premiums is converted to bitcoin and distributed to users’ spot accounts every Friday as a possible weekly payout.

The remaining premiums stay inside the strategy and gradually increase the value of each BTCY unit. As the retained premiums accumulate, each unit slowly represents more actual BTC. When users eventually redeem, they receive this higher BTC amount, providing a second form of return.

“Covered call strategies have long been used in traditional finance, but they can be complex for retail users to access directly,” Shunyet Jan, head of exchange and trading at Binance, said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. "With BTC Yield, we are simplifying that experience for Bitcoin holders who want income potential without actively trading the market.”

The debut comes as traditional finance embraces similar ideas. BlackRock, for example, recently introduced a Bitcoin income ETF that also uses a covered-call strategy to generate additional returns for holders.

Binance's take

Like any options-based product, BTC Yield carries costs and risks.

Binance takes a 15% share of gross option premiums before calculating user yield, and redemption fees apply when exiting. The product offers no principal protection, weekly distributions are not guaranteed and can be zero, and the strategy can limit upside during strong bitcoin rallies because calls may get exercised. In big bull markets, simply holding spot BTC will often outperform it.

Overall, BTC Yield gives long-term holders a straightforward way to seek income on idle bitcoin, but it is best suited for those comfortable with the trade-offs.