Bitwise Discloses Bitcoin Addresses of Its ETF in a Gesture of Transparency
Summary:
Bitwise has publicly shared the Bitcoin addresses of its Bitcoin ETF, trading under the ticker BITB, two weeks after its launch. The disclosure comes in the spirit of Bitcoin's core ethos of transparency, allowing anyone to verify the fund's holdings. The move came in response to clear investor feedback. At the time of the announcement, Bitwise held 11,858.63 BTC, worth around $465 million. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had approved Bitwise's Bitcoin ETF earlier in January, along with 10 other applications from asset management firms.
Two weeks after the launch of its Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), Bitwise, an asset management company, disclosed its BTC addresses to the public. The announcement on January 24 stated that the holdings of the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, traded under BITB on the New York Stock Exchange Arca, are open to anyone for verification. At the time the data was released, the Bitwise wallet held 11,858.63 BTC, compiling to approximately $465 million. Bitwise expressed its pride in embodying Bitcoin's inherent transparency and keenness towards promoting public clarity, which is reflected through this disclosure.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sanctioned the Bitwise spot Bitcoin ETF proposal on January 10, alongside ten other submissions from asset management entities. Despite available details, it remains unknown whether other firms intend to unveil their BTC addresses attached to their investment products. However, on January 22, intelligence agency Arkham uncovered several wallets associated with ETFs from Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton.
Hunter Horsley, co-founder and CEO of Bitwise, commented that their decision to disclose the BTC address was driven by investors' explicit feedback. In support of his statement, a survey by Horsley on January 23 showed 91.1% out of 2,416 participants advocating for the public display of BTC holdings. In response to Bitwise's ground-breaking transparency move, ETF analyst James Seyffart mentioned that Bitwise wouldn't be the final firm to publish their Bitcoin address for their ETF.
In its first week, BITB ascended into the top 5% of ETFs by assets under management in 2023. During the first seven days, BITB along with other spot BTC ETFs observed roughly $76 million in net outflows, with Grayscale's GBTC recording the largest net outflows.
Published At
1/25/2024 12:07:46 AM
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