US based asset manager USCF Investments, a subsidiary of The Marygold Companies, has launched the USCF Oil Plus Bitcoin Strategy Fund, ticker WTIB, on NYSE Arca.
A press release from The Marygold Companies, carried on Business Wire describes WTIB as an actively managed ETF that offers exposure to both crude oil markets and Bitcoin in one wrapper.
USCF’s own fund page for WTIB positions the product as part of its broader line up of commodity and alternative ETFs, and notes that this is the firm’s first strategy with dedicated Bitcoin exposure.
How The Oil Plus Bitcoin Strategy Works
WTIB is not a simple index tracker. According to its prospectus and SEC filing, the fund aims for total return by investing in:
- Crude oil futures contracts, including standard and micro contracts, which make up the “Oil Strategy” portion of the portfolio
- Bitcoin futures, including micro futures, plus
- Bitcoin related securities, such as exchange traded products that primarily hold Bitcoin
The key design choice is that WTIB uses leverage inside the portfolio so that, under normal conditions, it targets roughly:
- 100 percent notional exposure to the Oil Strategy, and
- 100 percent notional exposure to the Bitcoin Strategy.
In practical terms, this means that for every dollar an investor puts into WTIB, the fund is designed to provide about one dollar of oil exposure and one dollar of Bitcoin exposure via futures and ETPs, rather than splitting the dollar fifty fifty in cash terms.
Who WTIB Is Aimed At
USCF and Marygold frame WTIB as a product for investors who:
- Already understand commodity futures ETFs and want to add a Bitcoin sleeve without buying a separate crypto fund
- See both oil and Bitcoin as potential hedges against inflation, currency risk or geopolitical shocks
- Prefer to manage one ticker in their portfolios instead of rebalancing between separate oil and BTC ETFs
Traditional ETF and commodity media, including PR Newswire coverage and industry roundups on sites like exchangetradedfunds.com, mostly present WTIB as an innovation in the cross asset ETF space rather than as a pure crypto headline.
For crypto focused readers, the key point is that the fund treats Bitcoin as a macro component alongside a classic commodity, not as a separate speculative corner of the portfolio.
How It Fits The “Bitcoin As Macro Asset” Trend
The launch of WTIB adds to a growing list of products that weave Bitcoin into traditional asset allocation frameworks.
Instead of asking investors to create a special “crypto bucket,” these products:
- Pair Bitcoin with gold, equities or bonds in a single strategy
- Integrate BTC as one of several levers in multi asset funds
- Position it as a potential diversifier or volatility source within broader portfolios
WTIB’s oil plus Bitcoin blend is a particularly clear example of the narrative that both energy commodities and digital assets can act as partial hedges against inflation and currency debasement, even though each has very different risk profiles.
If the fund gathers significant assets and trades with decent liquidity on NYSE Arca, it could encourage more asset managers to explore similar “barrels plus blocks” style combinations.
Key Risks And Considerations
As with any leveraged, derivatives based ETF, WTIB carries a number of risks that investors need to understand:
- Futures roll and tracking risk – Rolling oil and Bitcoin futures can introduce slippage relative to spot markets, especially in contango or backwardation.
- Leverage effects – Targeting 100 percent notional exposure to both oil and Bitcoin means the portfolio can move faster than a simple unlevered blend of the two.
- Volatility stacking – Oil and Bitcoin are both volatile on their own. Combining them magnifies the potential drawdowns during market stress.
- Regulatory and tax complexity – The use of futures, ETPs and offshore subsidiaries for tax purposes adds structural complexity compared to a straightforward spot ETF.
USCF’s disclosures emphasise that WTIB is best suited to investors who are comfortable with commodity style ETFs, derivative exposure and the specific volatility profile of Bitcoin.
Conclusion
The USCF Oil Plus Bitcoin Strategy Fund, trading as WTIB on NYSE Arca, is an under the radar example of how Bitcoin is being folded into mainstream multi asset strategies.
By pairing crude oil futures with Bitcoin futures and related ETPs in a single, actively managed ETF, USCF is betting that there is room in the market for a hybrid product that treats BTC as part of the macro toolkit rather than a separate speculative play.
Whether WTIB becomes a template for future “crypto plus” commodity funds will depend on investor appetite, performance and how comfortable allocators ultimately feel mixing barrels and blocks under one ticker.
The post From Barrels To Blocks: New WTIB ETF Mixes Oil Futures With Bitcoin Exposure appeared first on Crypto Adventure.
