Fortuna Funds Co-Founders Mark Adams and Joe Sando rang the ceremonial bell at the Chicago Board Options Exchange in June. [Photo: Fortuna Funds]

Dallas-based investment management firm Fortuna Funds has launched its first investment vehicle on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe), listing an ETF that offers risk-adjusted exposure in Bitcoin via options on Bitcoin-related securities.

Called Fortuna Hedged Bitcoin Fund (HBTC), the exchange-trade fund was launched on March 19 by industry veterans Mark Adams and Joe Sando, who co-founded Fortuna Funds in 2024. The founders were on hand in Chicago last month to ring the ceremonial bell at the Cboe to help celebrate the ETF’s listing.

Adams has spent over 23 years at Dallas-based Warrington Asset Management, and is currently listed on its website as assistant portfolio manager and chief quantitative analyst. Sando is the founder of Sando Capital, which was launched in 2011. Before that, Sando was a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley and a sales partner at Santa Fe-based Thornburg Investment Management.

Fortuna Funds said that by recognizing a gap in the market, it’s bringing professional strategies—and “more than four decades of combined financial investment management experience”—to a wider set of investors with downside hedging.

The firm calls HBTC “the first publicly traded, hedged Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) of its kind,” saying It adds an actively managed, options-based hedged overlay that aims to reduce volatility while maintaining upside—”with the opportunity profile of digital asset exposure that includes a disciplined, risk-adjusted methodology for the investor concerned with price fluctuations.”

Fortuna said the launch of HBTC delivers on its mission to marry growth potential with capital preservation, noting that while the fund doesn’t invest directly in Bitcoin, it enables investors to manage exposure through options on Bitcoin-related securities.

‘Bridging the gap’ between experts and everyday investors

Joe Sando

“It’s a new strategic entry point for the risk-averse investor,” Sando said in a statement. “Our inaugural product is more than a listing; we’re bridging the gap between expert-level strategies and everyday investors.”

Writing on LinkedIn today, Sando said HBTC “is built for investors who believe in Bitcoin’s long-term potential but want protection against the volatility. It’s actively managed with an options-based hedge, combining upside exposure with risk management.”

Adams said in a news release distributed today that Fortuna’s new ETF is “performing well” and the firm’s downside hedging strategies are “proving effective.”

Mark Adams

“Our long-term vision to build a platform of hedge fund-style investment with risk-adjusted options is coming to life,” Adams added. “Grounded by the everyday investor and responsiveness to market conditions, we plan to thoughtfully expand into other high-potential sectors.”

Writing on LinkedIn in March at the time of the ETF’s launch, Adams said his team “brings expert options-trading experience to our new launch, and HBTC is the first-of-its-kind hedged cryptocurrency fund. Designed to mitigate Bitcoin’s downside risk while preserving its uncapped upside potential, HBTC provides a strategic approach to navigating Bitcoin’s volatility—making it a compelling addition to retail portfolios.”

HBTC is quoted on the Cboe BZX Exchange and provides “regulated, hedged exposure to bitcoin for both retail and institutional investors,” Fortuna noted. 

Chicago-based Wolverine Trading is the lead market maker for the fund.

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R E A D   N E X T

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