FIAT vs GBTC: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk

FIAT and GBTC are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. FIAT is YieldMax Short COIN Option Income Strategy ETF, while GBTC is Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF. FIAT has the lower expense ratio. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has GBTC ahead on AIQ Score, 59 versus 35.

Market data as of Oct 21, 2026 market close· Fund characteristics as of Oct 21, 2026
FIAT
YieldMax
vs
GBTC
Grayscale
FIAT
YieldMax Short COIN Option Income Strategy ETF
Issuer
YieldMax
Inception
2024-07-09
GBTC
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF
Issuer
Grayscale
Inception
2013-09-25
Expense ratio
FIAT
1.05%
GBTC
1.5%
Lower annual fund costFIAT
Holdings
FIAT
15
GBTC
1
Broader reported basketFIAT
1Y return
FIAT
-36.7%
GBTC
-24.9%
Trailing performanceGBTC
Annualized volatility
FIAT
58.4%
GBTC
45%
Lower realized volatilityGBTC
MetricFIATGBTC
Fund
Expense ratio1.05%1.5%
Holdings151
Average volume67,4351,805,020
Performance
1Y return-36.7%-24.9%
YTD return-41.8%-6.8%
Risk
Annualized volatility58.4%45%
Max drawdown (1Y)-59.2%-48.9%
Beta-2.181.76
Sharpe ratio-0.54-0.47
Sortino ratio-0.71-0.73
AlgovestIQ
AIQ Score35/10059/100
AIQ Edge Score2/107/10
Momentum49/10056/100
Risk Resilience13/10052/100

AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison

YieldMax Short COIN Option Income Strategy ETF vs Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF

Data as of Oct 21, 2026· market close· ₿ Crypto ETFs· Coverage 58/66 fields· Moderate confidence
AIQ VerdictCompetitiveAIQ Comparison Conviction 9/10

GBTC leads

GBTC leads by 24 AIQ points, primarily on Risk Resilience and Quality, but the lead has narrowed from 35 points over 30 sessions.

Competitive: 3 of 3 evidence groups support GBTC, its lead is narrowing, and its current signal state is conflicted.

Evidence agreement: 3 of 3Comparison trend: Weakening
FIAT

YieldMax Short COIN Option Income Strategy ETF

AIQ Score
35/100
AIQ Edge Score
2/10
GBTC

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF

Leads
AIQ Score
59/100
AIQ Edge Score
7/10

The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors GBTC over FIAT, 59 versus 35 as of Oct 21, 2026. GBTC's advantage is driven primarily by stronger risk resilience and quality. GBTC also shows the stronger technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 3 of 3 covered evidence groups favor GBTC today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: the leader's advantage has been narrowing. GBTC lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 35 to 24 points over 30 sessions.

Compare YieldMax Short COIN Option Income Strategy ETF and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.

FIAT vs GBTC: which fits what

Each row is settled by a single measure. Where the gap is too small to matter it reads Similar, and no row decides the comparison as a whole.

If you wantFIATGBTCFits
Lower costExpense ratio1.05%1.5%FIAT
Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 1 year-59.2%-48.9%GBTC
Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year58.4%45%GBTC

Similar means the gap is within 0.01 percentage points of expense ratio, 25% more holdings, 3 points of top-10 weight, 0.2 points of yield, 2 points of drawdown or 1 point of volatility. Past drawdowns and volatility describe the funds’ history, not their future.

Currently unavailable

Performance over time

Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes for both ETFs.

FIAT
-44.0%
GBTC
+25.1%

Total return comparison

Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested

FIAT $5,598 · GBTC $12,510

Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.

Compare FIAT and GBTC against another ticker

Open a multi-ticker workspace without changing this focused pair page.

Basic: 2 symbols·Explorer: 3 symbols·Pro and Premium: 5 symbols·Your limit: 2

AIQ Factor Divergence

Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.

FIAT advantage
0
GBTC advantage
  • Risk Resilience13 vs 52
    GBTC +39
  • Quality35 vs 65
    GBTC +30
  • Momentum49 vs 56
    GBTC +7

3 of 3 evidence groups favor GBTC. GBTC’s edge is concentrated in risk resilience and quality.

What changed since the last close

Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.

FIAT-1 AIQ

Largest factor move: Momentum -3

No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.

GBTC+1 AIQ

Largest factor move: Momentum +3

No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.

GBTC's lead widened by 2 AIQ points in the latest session.

Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — FIAT and GBTC both carry a full feed there.

Fund facts, side by side

Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.

MeasureFIATGBTCWhy it matters
Expense ratio1.05%1.5%Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold.
Holdings151More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns.
Average volume67,4351,805,020Liquidity — matters most if you trade size.
Annualized volatility58.4%45%Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure.
Max drawdown (1Y)-59.2%-48.9%The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year.
Sharpe ratio-0.54-0.47Return per unit of risk. Higher is better.
Beta-2.181.76Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio.

FIAT vs GBTC: five-year payout growth

FIAT began paying distributions in 2024, so it has no 2020-2025 growth rate to compare. GBTC has no 2020-2025 growth rate to compare.

Dividend metricFIATGBTC
Peer ranknot rankednot ranked

Split-adjusted annual distributions, 2020–2025. Research as of Sep 19, 2026. Yield and expense ratio above are current values, not part of this window.

AIQ Agreement Matrix

3 of 3 covered evidence groups favor GBTC. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.

Evidence groupFavorsReading
AIQ ScoreGBTC35 vs 59
FundamentalsNot coveredNot covered
ValuationNot coveredNot covered
TechnicalsGBTCPrice vs 50-day -5.1% vs 7.4%; vs 200-day -27.3% vs 11.3%
Risk ResilienceGBTCRisk Resilience 13 vs 52
Analyst expectationsNot coveredNot covered

✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of FIAT and GBTC and are excluded from the count.

AIQ Decision Stability

Competitive

The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.

  • The AIQ gap is wide at 24 points. (supports the conclusion holding)
  • 3 of 3 covered evidence groups point the same way. (supports the conclusion holding)
  • The leader's advantage has been narrowing. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
  • The lead has swung materially session to session. (argues the conclusion is provisional)
  • The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)

Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on GBTC.

How the comparison changed

99 daily snapshots · Jun 22 – Oct 20

GBTC lead: Weakening — the AIQ differential moved from 35 to 24 points over 30 sessions.

Jun 22FIAT leads above the line · GBTC leads belowOct 20
Today
GBTC +24
35 vs 59
7 sessions ago
GBTC +24
32 vs 56
30 sessions ago
GBTC +35
27 vs 62
90 sessions ago
GBTC +18
33 vs 51

The lead has not changed hands in this window.

AIQ Signal Divergence

Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.

FIATConflicted

1 bullish / 2 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted

Only FIAT

  • Death Cross Active — bearish, trend, long horizon (33.99%)
  • ATR Expansion - Breakout Mode — neutral, volatility, short horizon (4.37%)
  • Downtrend Structure Active — bearish, trend, long horizon
  • MACD Bullish Crossover — bullish, momentum, short horizon
GBTCConflicted

3 bullish / 1 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted

Only GBTC

  • Golden Cross Active — bullish, trend, long horizon (6.14%)
  • EMA Ribbon Expansion Bullish — bullish, trend, medium horizon
  • Uptrend Structure Active — bullish, trend, long horizon
  • MACD Bearish Crossover — bearish, momentum, short horizon

Both carry 1 more signal that do not separate them: Bollinger Band Squeeze.

GBTC leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.

Price vs model alignment

Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.

FIATConfirmed weakness

Price and the AIQ Score both moved down over the latest session (price -2.58%, AIQ -1 points).

GBTCConfirmed strength

Price and the AIQ Score both moved up over the latest session (price +2.39%, AIQ +1 points).

What would flip this result

A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.

  1. 1FIAT closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 39 points behind, the largest single contributor to GBTC's edge.
  2. 2FIAT's Death Cross Active resolves — a bearish trend rule currently active against it.
  3. 3GBTC's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 3 bullish and 1 bearish rules at once.
  4. 4The narrowing continues — the lead has already given back 11 points over 30 sessions, and a further 24-point move would eliminate GBTC's advantage entirely.

The full evidence

Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.

Fundamentals

Split
MetricFIATGBTC
Revenue growth (YoY)—0%
EPS growth (YoY)—0%
Gross margin—0%
Operating margin—0%
Return on equity (TTM)—0%
Debt to equity—0

Performance

GBTC leads 4 of 6 windows
MetricFIATGBTC
1 week (5 sessions)4.7%-0.9%
1 month (20 sessions)11.1%-4.4%
3 months (63 sessions)-19.2%24.7%
6 months (126 sessions)-27%9.2%
Year to date-41.8%-6.8%
1 year (252 sessions)-36.7%-24.9%

Technicals

GBTC has the stronger structure
MetricFIATGBTC
RSI (14)58.145.4
ADX (14)27.222
Price vs 50-day-5.1%7.4%
Price vs 200-day-27.3%11.3%
Volatility (1M, annualized)37.5%21.4%

Risk

GBTC is the more resilient
MetricFIATGBTC
Beta-2.181.76
Sharpe ratio-0.54-0.47
Sortino ratio-0.71-0.73
Max drawdown-59.2%-48.9%
Current drawdown-54.5%-28.4%
Annualized volatility58.4%45%
Value at risk (95%)-7.3%-4%

Straight answers

Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.

Which has the lower expense ratio?

FIAT has the lower expense ratio, 1.05% a year against 1.5% for GBTC.

Which ETF has been more volatile?

FIAT has been more volatile over the past year, at 58.4% annualized against 45% for GBTC.

Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?

GBTC fell less from peak to trough over the past year: -48.9% against -59.2% for FIAT.

Compare FIAT and GBTC with others

Continue your research

This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.

How this comparison is scored

The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.

The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.

How to use side-by-side comparison →

This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.