ETF Evaluator: Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF () Follow This ETF

Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF Overview

Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (IMST) is an actively managed Nontraditional Equity Derivative Income exchange-traded fund (ETF). Bitwise Investments launched the ETF in 2025.

The investment seeks to provide current income; the fund’s secondary investment objective is to provide exposure to the price return of common shares of MicroStrategy Incorporated (Nasdaq: MSTR) (“MSTR”), subject to a limit on potential investment gains. The manager seeks to achieve these investment objectives through the use of a synthetic covered call strategy. The manager seeks to provide its synthetic exposure to the price return of MSTR through the purchase and sale of a combination of call and put option contracts that utilize MSTR as the reference asset. The fund is non-diversified.

About Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (IMST)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 1.33 years: Jennifer Thornton (2025) and Daniela Padilla (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF has 3 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 99.8% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Nontraditional Equity ETF group. Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF has 100.0% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $6 million in total assets, which is below the $727 million average for the Derivative Income category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

IMST Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Derivative Income category. Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF has an expense ratio of 0.96%, which is 15% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 0%, which indicates that it holds its assets around /years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 69% for the Derivative Income category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF returned 5.9%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Derivative Income category had an average return of -1.5%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF has a trailing yield of 11.85%, which is below the 19.96% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned -30.4%, 32.9 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned -70.1% over the past year (grade of F).

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