Summary YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (MSTY) offers a headline 110%+ yield but suffers from severe NAV erosion and high risk. MSTY's covered-call strategy on MSTR exposes investors to leveraged Bitcoin volatility, with a -45% total return over the past year. Distributions are largely return of capital, not sustainable income, and the ETF's structure risks ongoing book value destruction. I recommend selling MSTY, as its excessive yield is unsustainable and the risk/reward profile is unattractive for most investors. My Sell Thesis For The YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF ( MSTY ) The YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF is part of a family of covered-call ETFs that offer you a stellar distribution yield, currently of 110.69% (this is the published distribution yield on the website of YieldMax. The YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF is part of a new group of high-yield, weekly-paying ETFs that invest basically only into one company, or build a long position in a business via structured products, like Swaps and other derivatives. MSTY is a highly risky ETF tool with which you can bet big on Strategy ( MSTR ), although the performance record shows that this is not necessarily what you should be doing. Strategy is a business that is building a major Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) treasury that recently consisted of as much as 650,000 Bitcoin. The devastating net asset value decline in the last year and high Bitcoin volatility itself, however, preclude me from seeing MSTY as a reasonable investment. Strategy-Related Investment With 100% Distribution Yield The YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF rises far above the shoulders of other ETFs, as it has become a popular vehicle for some to invest in Strategy and Bitcoin. If you take into consideration that an S&P 500 investment in the long-run returned an average of between 10-12% annually, the yield is almost too good to be true. And if you factor in total returns, including BV losses, then MSTY becomes quite a bad investment. The YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF allows you to benefit from a long position in Strategy which is a significant holder of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Strategy has become notorious for making debt-financed Bitcoin purchases using billions of dollars in the last couple of years. Strategy’s unprecedented spending spree on this cryptocurrency has left the business with a treasure including 650,000 Bitcoin which Strategy has said is equal to 3.1% of the outstanding Bitcoin supply. As of 09/30/2025 the holdings in the crypto realm were worth $73.2 billion to Strategy, though this fair value could be either much higher or much lower, depending on where the crypto market heads next. Digital Assets (YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF) Strategy is not only the biggest corporate owner of Bitcoin, but the business is among the top five companies by size of their treasuries. Strategy has a bigger treasury, thanks to its Bitcoin holdings, than some of the most profitable companies in the world, including Nvidia, Apple or Meta. Strategy's Bitcoin Holdings (YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF) Strategy is one of the biggest acquirers of Bitcoin and the business, due to the inherent price volatility of the cryptocurrency, is going to see considerable earnings and share price volatility in the future which will make MSTY an investment that will experience sharp valuation upside and downside depending on the prevailing moods in the cryptocurrency market. It is worth noting that the YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF does not own Strategy shares, but rather owns a large position in U.S. Treasuries and then sells call options or call spreads on Strategy. The main purposes of employing this covered-call strategy is to procure income from selling options while giving you exposure to Strategy’s shares. MSTY’s and MSTR’s performances since inception are compared below. As you can easily see, an investment in Strategy (the blue line) widely and consistently outperformed an investment in MSTY (the red line) on a total return basis. In plain words: if you wanted to have MSTR exposure in the past, you would have done significantly better simply owning MSTR instead of seeking exposure via MSTY. Total Return Chart (Totalrealreturns.com) High Potential For Capital Loss While the YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF earned an early investor 52% since inception in February 2024, the one-year return is significantly worse at -45%. Bitcoin has pulled back from recent highs, pulling down values for MSTR and MSTY down with it. Since Strategy buys Bitcoin’s mostly with debt, an investment in Strategy is essentially a leveraged bet on Bitcoin. The high BV loss potential for MSTY is related to the ETF writing covered-call options for income and risking paying out more money than MSTY actually earns. This exposes you to the risk of potentially severe future capital losses. NAV Performance (YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF) High-yield, covered-call ETFs write call options aggressively in order to lock in premium income. This income is paid to the ETF’s shareowners as a dividend, and in the case of the MSTY each week. However, a large portion of the distributed cash counts as a return of capital and is not actual distribution income for investors. The problem with YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF, and ETFs that deploy a similar investment strategy, is that in the long-term the fund’s book value erodes which reduces the substance of the ETF. The inevitable consequence is that 100% distribution yields, like the one that MSTY offers, are ultimately not sustainable and will have to get down-sized. Suitability, High Risk Of NAV Losses The MSTY is only for hardcore investors that understand the risk and inherent volatility of such an aggressively structured ETF. The YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF has a sad performance chart, to be frank, losing about 45% in the last year. Single-name, covered-call ETFs are not a really strong products, in my opinion, and suitable only for very few people that have strong market timing skills and want to use MSTY as a vehicle to earn excess income at the risk of consistent BV erosion. Considering that MSTY is losing money on a NAV basis, I believe the value proposition itself is not particularly attractive. My Verdict: Don’t Fall For The Yield, Sell YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF is part of an increasingly popular group of single-name ETFs that adopt aggressively covered-call strategies in order to create income out of their underlying long position. While the ETF indeed advertises its 100% yield on its website, a closer look at the total return performance highlights that the ETF is not nearly as successful as the yield may make it seem. MSTY’s total return on BV in the last year was -45% which is not exactly a performance to be proud of. The YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF, in my opinion, should be avoided as a high-risk ETF as it relies on structured products and has the potential to introduce significant volatility in your portfolio, especially if Bitcoin starts to tank and hits new lows. MSTY’s covered-call income is not sustainable, in my opinion, and its excessive yield will ultimately force the ETF to continue to risk the erosion of its book value. The logical consequence is that the YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF may have a distribution yield of 100%, but the yield may prove to be much more fantastical than fantastic when the ETF inevitably lower its dividend income.