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Bitwise Asset Management, a leading crypto fund manager since 2017, announced that shares of the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (the “Fund”) will begin public quotation on OTCQX® today under the ticker symbol “BITW.”
Shares of the Fund will be tradable through traditional brokerage accounts.
The Fund debuts with approximately $120 million in assets under management.
“The unprecedented events of 2020 have motivated many to invest in crypto for the first time,” said Hunter Horsley, cofounder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management. “With BITW, investors can now get exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies without trying to pick winners or having to constantly monitor the rapid changes in the space.”
The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund seeks to track the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index (the “Index”), a diversified, market-cap-weighted index of the 10 largest cryptoassets. Index constituents are screened for liquidity, custody, and other risks, and rebalanced monthly. They represent approximately 80% of the market. As of Nov. 30, 2020, the Fund held approximately 75% Bitcoin and 13% Ethereum, with the remaining 12% allocated across XRP, Litecoin, Chainlink, Tezos, and other cryptocurrencies.
On a year-to-date basis through Nov. 30, 2020, the Fund was up 184%, outperforming a stand-alone position in Bitcoin.
The Fund structure is a Delaware statutory trust and is audited annually. Coins are held in 100% cold storage with a regulated, insured custodian.
Governance of the Index is overseen by a committee, and guided by an advisory board featuring world-renowned experts in the fields of both index design and cryptoasset analysis. Advisory board members include Srikant Dash, former Global Head of Index Business for Bloomberg, and Managing Director and Global Head of Research & Design and Channel Management at S&P Indices; Spencer Bogart, Partner at Blockchain Capital and one of the first bitcoin analysts on Wall Street; and Matt Hougan, Bitwise CIO, former CEO of ETF.com, and past Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Indexes, a leading journal on index design.
“Crypto is the best-performing asset class in the world this year, and the outlook for 2021 is strong,” said Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s Chief Investment Officer. “The start of public trading for shares of BITW will make it significantly easier for financial advisers, family offices, individuals, and institutional funds to allocate to the space. We believe the Fund offers a robust, one-stop solution.”
Shares will be quoted on the OTCQX® Best Market, the top-tier market offered by OTC Markets Group Inc., which facilitates the public quotation of approximately 11,000 securities, including the securities of familiar names like Tencent, Roche, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), and Fannie Mae.
A Form 211 for quotation of the Fund’s shares was recently reviewed by FINRA and verified for compliance with Rule 15c2-11 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, enabling trading on OTCQX® to commence. The Fund is eligible for direct registration system (DRS) electronic transfer and settlement through The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”).
The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund is an open-ended, publicly traded statutory trust, not an exchange-traded fund or closed-end fund. Accredited investors may create shares of the Fund at net asset value (NAV) through private placement. Those restricted shares may then become eligible for public sale after a 12-month holding period. The market price for publicly traded shares may trade at a material premium to, or discount to, the NAV per share. For more information, visit www.bitwiseinvestments.com.
Portfolio management of the Fund is overseen by Bitwise COO Teddy Fusaro, who was previously Senior Vice President of New York Life Investment Management, and who before that led portfolio management and trading at IndexIQ, a multibillion-dollar provider of alternative ETFs, including first-to-market hedge fund replication ETFs.
Source: Bitwise Investments