Launched in 2017, BITW holds the 10 largest crypto assets by market capitalization, with active screening and monthly rebalancing, Bitwise said in a Tuesday press release.
The fund is designed to offer investors diversified exposure to the crypto market, according to the release.
“Most investors we meet are convinced crypto is here to stay, but they don’t know who the winners will be or how many will succeed,” Bitwise Chief Information Officer Matt Hougan said in the release. “The index approach is a way for people to invest in the thesis without having to predict the future, knowing that BITW will own the largest, most successful assets in the space (by market capitalization), whatever they happen to be.”
When the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued new guidance regarding disclosures for cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded products in July, the move was widely seen as a precursor to a broader wave of approvals for crypto exchange-traded funds.
In September, digital asset-focused investment platform Grayscale Investments said its multiasset cryptocurrency exchange-traded product called Grayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF (GDLC) had begun trading on NYSE Arca.
At launch, GDLC offered investors exposure to the five largest crypto assets, and Grayscale Investments said the fund would rebalance quarterly to maintain alignment with the crypto market’s leading assets.
“Grayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF has met the growing investor demand for diverse exposure to crypto for nearly a decade and investors are increasingly turning to the ETP wrapper for their crypto exposure,” Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg said at the time in a press release.
When Bitwise completed a $70 million equity raise in February, the company said that it saw “tremendous” growth in 2024 and that the funding round would bolster its balance sheet and develop new investment capabilities and investor solutions.
“Following the path charted by private equity, private credit and high-yield bonds, crypto is coming into its own as an increasingly institutional and unique alternative asset class,” Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said at the time in a press release.
