Bitwise Asset Management, a leading crypto asset manager with over $700 million in assets under management (“AUM”), announced today that it has begun the regulatory process to allow shares of the Bitwise Bitcoin Fund to trade on OTCQX.
If approved, shares of the fund would be available for trading in traditional brokerage accounts and for custody with many traditional custodians.
The company has not yet announced a ticker for the fund.
“We are tremendously excited to take the Bitwise Bitcoin Fund down the path recently taken by the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (OTCQX: BITW),” said Bitwise President Teddy Fusaro. “We have been managing this fund since 2018, offering investors a cost-effective, convenient, and secure means of gaining investment exposure to bitcoin, and are excited to potentially see shares of the fund quoted on OTCQX.”
The Fund charges a 1.5% expense ratio, which includes costs related to custody, tax, accounting, and management fees, lower than competing products. The fund’s bitcoin is held with a regulated, insured, third-party custodian.
The Bitwise Bitcoin Fund opened for private placements by accredited investors in December 2018, and the private placement offering remains open via the Bitwise website.
“There is significant growth in interest from professional investors in accessing bitcoin as a tool to hedge their portfolios against rising inflationary risks,” added Matt Hougan, Bitwise chief investment officer. “Financial advisors in particular are taking note of the large allocations that hedge funds, institutions, insurance companies, and traditional asset managers are making to bitcoin, and based on our recent survey of nearly 1,000 financial advisors, many are deciding that now is the time to consider an allocation of their own.”
If cleared, the Bitwise Bitcoin Fund will be the second Bitwise fund cleared for public quotation: On December 9, shares of the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (OTCQX: BITW) became the first publicly traded crypto index fund in the United States, and began trading on the OTCQX Best Market.
About Bitwise Asset Management
Bitwise Asset Management is a leading provider of index and beta crypto funds. Based in San Francisco, Bitwise’s team combines expertise in technology with decades of experience in traditional asset management and indexing—coming from firms including Facebook, Google, Wealthfront, BlackRock, Fidelity, Deutsche Bank, IndexIQ, and ETF.com. Bitwise is backed by leading institutional investors and asset management executives, and is a frequent commentator on crypto in the press. It has been profiled in Institutional Investor, CNBC, Barron’s, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many other leading publications. The firm is a trusted partner to financial advisors, RIAs, multifamily offices, hedge funds, and other professional investors as they navigate the crypto space. For more information, visit: www.bitwiseinvestments.com.
