Crypto Skeptics Can Still Win Big With These Risk-Limiting ETFs

Key Points

• Bitcoin achieved all-time highs above $120,000 in the summer of 2025, undoubtedly prompting some investor curiosity.
• Those interested in indirect exposure to the crypto space with the buffer of a traditional investment might consider risk-mitigating ETFs.
• Funds like FDIG, AETH, and OOQB limit risk through exposure to stocks outside of the crypto space, U.S. Treasuries, or the Nasdaq-100.

Fresh off all-time highs above $120,000, Bitcoin has had an incredible run in the last year with a price increase above 80%. The potential for a more favorable regulatory environment may have helped drive these gains and could also inspire once-cautious investors to take the crypto plunge.

Still, there are plenty of reasons to be hesitant about cryptocurrency—volatility, user and programming risks for various exchanges and platforms, and security concerns are all still present, among other things.

Investors hesitant to make direct, unprotected cryptocurrency investments but interested in the recent rally might consider a risk-limiting crypto ETF.

Besides providing some insulation from the cryptocurrency itself by allowing exposure indirectly through shares of a fund, these vehicles may combine a crypto focus with something more stable from the traditional investment landscape.

Further, all of the funds below have significantly outperformed the S&P 500 year-to-date (YTD), showing that these risk-mitigating strategies can still pay off.

Stock-Focused Fund With Exposure to Crypto as Well as Blockchain, Digital Payments

The Fidelity Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF NASDAQ: FDIG has been one of the better-performing crypto-adjacent ETFs in recent quarters. FDIG does not invest in cryptocurrency or related futures but rather holds a basket of stocks from both the U.S. and international markets.

While many of these companies are involved in the cryptocurrency space—think of crypto exchanges like Coinbase Global Inc. NASDAQ: COIN and digital asset miners like MARA Holdings Inc. NASDAQ: MARA—others are more broadly centered around digital payments or blockchain, providing some alternate exposure.

FDIG is reasonably diversified, with around 52 separate holdings that are spaced across the small-, mid-, and large-cap categories. Coinbase is the single largest security holding, but most other names are fairly evenly weighted.

FDIG may appeal for its passive income potential, as it provides a dividend yield of 0.95%. This may help make the expense ratio of 0.40% even more compelling, despite the fact that it's already lower than many other crypto funds.

FDIG has returned about 24% YTD, ahead of the S&P 500's 8.7% over the same period.

Ether Targeting, With Treasuries as a Security Back-Up

An Ethereum-focused fund, the Bitwise Ethereum Strategy ETF NYSEARCA: AETH, aims to minimize the impact of volatility by using U.S. Treasuries during volatile periods. AETH is an actively managed fund that pivots between two different approaches: when fund managers believe momentum is strong, AETH holds exclusively CME Ether Futures, and when the market becomes volatile or uncertain, AETH shifts entirely to U.S. Treasuries.

The fund's provider, Bitwise, asserts that a rotational strategy like this can outperform buy-and-hold crypto funds by capturing gains achieved during ether rallies while limiting downside risk during turbulent times. AETH's recent performance would suggest that this is accurate; the fund has a YTD return of 32.6%, while a traditional competitor investing solely in ether futures like the ARK 21Shares Active Ethereum Futures Strategy ETF NYSEARCA: ARKZ has returned just 7.7% in the same period.

Investors should expect to spend more in fees for the active management component of AETH, which charges an expense ratio of 0.89%. ARKZ, by contrast, is somewhat lower at 0.70%. However, the added security of a Treasuries component—and the improved performance—may make AETH worth the higher cost.

Leveraged Play on Bitcoin and the Nasdaq-100

The One+One Bitcoin and Ether ETF NASDAQ: OOQB is a unique type of leveraged investment that offers both 100% Nasdaq-100 exposure and 100% Bitcoin exposure via futures. As a leveraged play, investors may wish to focus on short-term trades of OOQB.

This fund provides an interesting mix of risk and risk mitigation. On one hand, a 2x leverage such as this is inherently higher-risk than traditional, non-leveraged ETFs. However, by balancing out Bitcoin futures exposure, typically seen as higher risk than traditional index-based funds, with a group of stalwart performers like those from the Nasdaq-100, OOQB offers some protection relative to a pure-play Bitcoin investment.

OOQB is one of the newest cryptocurrency ETFs available, having only launched in February 2025. As such, a YTD performance metric is unavailable for this fund. However, in the last three months, it has returned more than 50%, with a relatively modest expense ratio of 0.85%.

Keep in mind, though, as above, that the fund may not be intended for buy-and-hold investors but rather for those seeking targeted short-term exposure to Bitcoin with some protection from synchronous Nasdaq-100 access.