Bitwise Lists Publicly Traded Crypto Index Fund in The U.S.

San Francisco-based Bitwise Asset Management has managed to publicly list one of its cryptocurrency funds, which will now be available to U.S. investors, the firm said in a press release on 9 December.

According to the announcement, the firm was able to publicly list its 10 Crypto Index Fund after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority reviewed a Form 211 for quotation of the fund’s shares. The fund has been listed on the OTCQX over-the-counter market under the ticker symbol BITW, enabling U.S. investors to trade the fund’s shares with a traditional brokerage account. Bitwise’s Chief Investment Officer, Matt Hougan, said in a statement:

“Crypto is the best-performing asset class in the world this year, and the outlook for 2021 is strong. 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.”

The new fund currently has around $120 million in assets under management. As of 30 November, 75% are allocated to Bitcoin (BTC), 13% to Ethereum (ETH), and 12% to other digital assets. The fund, which turned a profit of 184% on a year-to-date basis, will track the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index, a market-cap-weighted index of the ten largest cryptocurrencies.

Prior to launching the publicly traded fund, the firm had made several attempts to win regulatory approval from the U.S. SEC for a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund, but was rejected every time. Bitwise finally gave up on its attempts in early January, when it requested the withdrawal of its application for an ETF.