The largest cryptocurrency index fund manager in America, Bitwise, is looking to launch the world’s first cryptocurrency index fund as an exchange-traded product (ETP), looking to convert a $1.3 billion publicly traded trust to an ETP.
According to a recent announcement, NYSE Arca has filed to turn the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW) into an ETP in a bid to provide investors with a more efficient and convenient investment vehicle to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency sector.
The announcement details that converting the fund into an ETP “confers many benefits to shareholders, including greater efficiency and regulatory protections.” The listing would end up “creating an arbitrage mechanism that allows the fund to trade on the secondary market.”
Trading on a secondary market and the nature of being an ETP would mean that the fund would trade closely to its Net Asset Value (NAV). Bitwise’sChief Investment Officer Matt Hougan noted that the fund has “opened up new possibilities” for investors.
The move to convert its crypto index fund comes as Bitwise is looking to expand its cryptocurrency exchange-traded product offering with new funds, including one offering exposure to XRP. Last month, the fund also filed to convert three cryptocurrency futures ETFs from long-only strategies into a “Trendwise” rotation strategy.
Bitwise’s Crypto Index Fund BITW
The firm’s Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund was launched in late 2017 and has been offering investors exposure to the 10 largest digital assets by market capitalization, with the fund being reconstituted and rebalanced each month.
As of October 31 the lion’s share of the fund’s assets were in Bitcoin (75.1%), with Ethereum and Solana accounting for little over 20% combined and XRP being the only other digital asset with over 1% of its fund. Other holdings include Cardano, Avalanche, Bitcoin Cash, and Chainlink, among others.
The fund started trading on the OTCQX Best Market under the BITW ticker back in 2020, when it became the first publicly traded crypto index fund, according to the firm.
