Bitwise Files for ETF Targeting Companies Holding Bitcoin

Bitwise Asset Management filed plans for an ETF that would invest in public companies holding bitcoin on their balance sheets, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Thursday.

Bitwise, which manages $2.8 billion across seven exchange-traded funds, including its largest fund, the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), at $4 billion in assets, filed the new product amid surging institutional interest in bitcoin exposure.

The Bitwise Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF would target firms with at least 1,000 bitcoin in their corporate treasuries, requiring them to have a minimum $100 million market cap and daily trading volume of $1 million.

The fund would invest at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of what Bitwise calls "Bitcoin Standard Companies." The remaining assets may be held in short-term instruments such as cash for liquidity purposes, according to the filing.

Rather than weighting companies by market capitalization like traditional ETFs, the fund would weight holdings based on the value of their bitcoin reserves, capped at 25% per company, the filing stated. This means MicroStrategy, with its 444,262 bitcoin, could receive a larger allocation than most other companies, despite having a smaller market cap.

Building Bitcoin Exposure Through Equities

The filing arrives as institutional adoption of bitcoin continues to grow. KULR Technology Group announced Thursday it spent $21 million buying 217.18 bitcoin, according to a company press release.

"The [BTC] treasury operations virus is spreading," Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store wrote in an X post.

On the same day Bitwise submitted its filing, Vivek Ramaswamy's Strive Asset Management also filed for a bitcoin-focused ETF. The Strive Bitcoin Bond ETF would target convertible bonds from companies with large bitcoin holdings, such as MicroStrategy.

Read More: Strive Unveils Bitcoin Bond ETF Focused on MicroStrategy

Bitcoin most recently traded at around $94,205, having retreated more than 10% from its December peak of $108,268, according to CoinMarketCap data. The cryptocurrency has more than doubled this year as corporations and financial firms increased their exposure to the digital asset.