Digital asset manager Bitwise has launched two new beta funds for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), according to a press release Dec. 5.
The launch of the new products –– both pitched as an opportunity for investors to “capitalize” on the bear market –– aims to provide a “low-cost” and “liquid” means of capturing returns on both high-profile assets, which are currently trading 81 and 92 percent respectively below their all-time highs.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley issued a statement accompanying the launch of the new funds, suggesting that investors now have “a unique opportunity to enter the market at prices many thought we’d never see again.” He continued:
“Though an ETF has not yet been approved, investors and advisors like the fund format because it’s professionally managed and simplifies access to best-in-class custody, trading, reporting, and tax preparation, and allows for the safe capture of events like hard forks and airdrops.”
As per the press release, the funds will not charge premiums, exit fees, impose lockups, nor charge extra expenses “outside the stated management fee.” Investors’ holdings will reportedly be kept in cold storage wallets held by an unnamed “institutional third-party custodian,” and Bitwise says it will provide clients with K-1 tax documents each year.
Matt Hougan, global head of research for Bitwise, has contextualized the launch of the new funds as being driven by “significant inbound demand” spurred by part “positive developments on the horizon.” These, he outlined, include “the forthcoming “launch of the Bakkt bitcoin futures exchange from ICE, the launch of Fidelity Digital Assets, and the continued movement of institutional investors like Yale University and Stanford University into the crypto space.”
As reported this summer, Bitwise has also filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a regulated multi-cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF), which has been designed to include ten cryptocurrencies. If approved, the ETF would track the Bitwise HOLD 10 Private Index Fund that was founded last November.
