The race to list the first crypto ETF has been gathering steam over the last year as exchanges and crypto investment companies have sought to become the pioneers in this lucrative market segment. The wave of applications with the SEC was kicked off by the Winklevoss twins, but others have since joined in, the latest being Bitwise. If approved, its new ETF will track the ten cryptos that are currently offered in the company’s Hold 10 Private Index Fund. The SEC has yet to make its opinion known on crypto ETFs, and the crypto community continues to wait with bated breath, with many convinced that this will be the long-awaited announcement that pushes Bitcoin’s price back to its record highs.
Joining the Queue
The San Francisco-based digital asset management company aims to become the first company to offer a multiple-crypto ETF. While other companies such as Gemini and SolidX have submitted proposals for crypto ETFs in the past, they have all limited themselves to Bitcoin ETFs. Bitwise is looking to explore nine other cryptos as well. The new ETF, which will be known as the Bitwise HOLD 10 Cryptocurrency Index Fund, will track the returns of the company’s HOLD 10 Private Index. This is a market cap-weighted index that tracks the ten largest cryptos and is rebalanced monthly. To address the unique challenges of the crypto market such as liquidity, shifts in supply, and trade volume concentration, it utilizes a five-year diluted market cap.
Bitwise has been offering its index fund since November of last year. However, unlike the proposed public ETF, the existing fund is only open to accredited investors who have at least $1 million in liquid assets. In a press release, Bitwise sought to clarify that while it has filed for registration of the new ETF with the SEC, it’s yet to be approved and no buy offers will be entertained yet.
Matt Hougan, the global head of research at Bitwise, urged investors to consider both the single and multiple coin ETFs to make the best possible investment decision.
Our research shows that an index-tracking basket of multiple cryptocurrencies behaves differently than a single coin. As such, we think both sorts of exposure need to be looked at by investors when considering the growing cryptocurrency space.
Hougan also drew similarities between the ongoing crypto ETFs race and the rise of commodity ETFs 15 years ago. Back then, most commodity ETFs focused on one commodity such as gold or crude oil, but as the industry matured, multiple commodity ETFs became more successful.
Crypto ETFs have been considered by many as the catalyst that could catapult cryptos to new heights. One of them is Arthur Hayes, the BitMEX founder and CEO who has predicted that Bitcoin’s price will hit $50,000. According to Hayes, Bitcoin is only one positive announcement away from hitting the predicted price, with the approval of a Bitcoin ETF by the SEC being at the top of his list.
In the past week, there have been rumors that the SEC is planning to approve an application by VanEck and SolidX for a Bitcoin ETF, claims that some experts have linked to Bitcoin’s bouncing back to hit $8,300 for the first time in over two months. The approval would open the market up to institutional investors, which could greatly raise the demand, and consequently the price, of Bitcoin.
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