Crypto specialist Bitwise Asset Management this week launched Bitwise Ethereum ETF on the New York Stock Exchange. ETHW has a management fee of 0.20%, with the fee set to 0% for the first six months on the first $500 million in assets.
The fund invests directly in Ether (ETH), the world’s second-largest crypto asset and the driving force behind the Ethereum blockchain.
Bitwise Asset Management said that investors should note that, unlike many other exchange-traded products, ETHW is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and is not subject to its regulations.
“We believe Ethereum is the world’s most interesting blockchain, and an exchange-traded product gives investors much-awaited exposure to its potential,” said Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan. “Investing in ETH is like making a ‘picks and shovels’ investment in the underlying infrastructure behind tokenization, stablecoins, DeFi, NFTs, decentralized social media, and other killer apps in the blockchain space. Ethereum is also the platform of choice for big brands like Nike, JPMorgan, and others as they experiment with public blockchains.3 And now, thanks to ETHW, investors can gain exposure to Ethereum’s growth potential and diversify their crypto exposure with the ease and familiarity of buying a stock.”
Ethereum has become a primary platform for stablecoins and DeFi, whose markets today are around $150 billion each. Growing awareness of Ethereum’s potential has driven ETH, the asset that powers it, to a market cap of more than $400 billion—second only to Bitcoin among digital assets.
Bitwise committed to donating 10% of all ETHW profits to two organizations: Protocol Guild, a grassroots funding organization that supports more than 170 core contributors to Ethereum Layer 1 protocol research and development, and PBS Foundation, a non-profit that funds open-source Ethereum block relays and surrounding research.
“Ethereum, as an open-source technology, is maintained by a dedicated community of open-source developers,” said Hong Kim, Bitwise’s chief technology officer. “Every investor in ETHW wants Ethereum to continue to advance, and this donation program contributes to that goal.”
ETHW’s debut comes just over six months after the launch of Bitwise’s first spot bitcoin ETP, BITB. Today, BITB has more than $2.7 billion in assets. BITB is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and is not subject to its regulations, Bitwise Asset Management said.
Investors in ETHW gain access to insights, research, and a nationwide distribution team.
ETHW joins a suite that features seven other publicly traded funds along with separately managed accounts, private placement vehicles, and multi-strategy solutions.
“2024 has been a landmark year for crypto as it moves firmly into the mainstream,” said Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley. “The launch of both spot Bitcoin and spot Ethereum ETPs has opened up crypto’s groundbreaking potential to millions of people through one of the most popular investment vehicles in the world. The debut of the Bitwise Ethereum ETF reinforces the core mission that has driven us since 2017: Day in and day out, we’re here to help people understand and access the opportunities in crypto.”
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