Bitcoin ETFs and the Path Forward for U.S. Crypto Investors
San Francisco • June 30, 2022
Since our founding in 2017, Bitwise has had an unwavering commitment to helping investors gain high-quality exposure to the most compelling investment opportunities in crypto. In support of this mission, in October 2021 we filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). We believed then, as we do now, that a spot bitcoin ETF would benefit investors by lowering costs and improving access to bitcoin.
As part of our application, we submitted more than 130 pages of original, data-driven research that sought to answer the questions the SEC had raised in prior spot bitcoin disapproval orders. This included robust statistical studies on the source of price formation in the bitcoin market, surveys of independent academic literature on the same topic, and contextual analysis of prior ETF launches. (Available here and here.)
We are disappointed with yesterday’s decision by the SEC to disapprove our application. We believe the bitcoin market has matured enough to warrant approval, that the data in the record supports that approval, and that a spot bitcoin ETF would ultimately benefit investors. Nevertheless, our path forward will be consistent with our actions in the past: addressing the agency’s questions with the same emphasis on collaboration, professionalism, and data-driven reasoning that has always guided our work. Bitwise has now invested itself in this worthy cause for almost half a decade, since our first ETF filing back in 2018, and we remain committed to bringing a spot bitcoin ETF and other high-quality crypto products to investors.
With our dedicated team of over 70 professionals and growing suite of 16 products—spanning ETFs, publicly traded trusts, private funds, and separately managed accounts—we continue to serve tens of thousands of financial advisors, individuals, families, and institutions across the country as a partner in understanding and accessing this new asset class.
About Bitwise
Bitwise Asset Management is the largest crypto index fund manager in America. Thousands of financial advisors, family offices, and institutional investors partner with Bitwise to understand and access the opportunities in crypto. For six years, Bitwise has established a track record of excellence managing a broad suite of index and active solutions across ETFs, separately managed accounts, private funds, and hedge fund strategies. Bitwise is known for providing unparalleled client support through expert research and commentary, its nationwide client team of crypto specialists, and its deep access to the crypto ecosystem. The Bitwise team of more than 60 professionals combines expertise in technology and asset management with backgrounds including BlackRock, Millennium, ETF.com, Meta, Google, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Bitwise is backed by leading institutional investors and has been profiled in Institutional Investor, Barron’s, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal. It has offices in San Francisco and New York. For more information, visit www.bitwiseinvestments.com.
