Bitwise eyes Bitcoin-Treasury ETF

Bitwise has filed yet another crypto ETF application after submitting a bid for an XRP fund with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bitwise has taken the stock fund trading frenzy even further with a new fund app targeting Bitcoin (BTC) and U.S. Treasuries. The product, codenamed BITC, will rotate capital between the leading cryptocurrency and America’s first short-term debt obligation, according to Bloomberg’s James Seyffart.

After first filing for the fund last December, Bitwise has filed amended documents renaming its latest crypto investment vehicle as the Bitwise Trendwise Bitcoin and Treasury Rotation Strategy ETF. This is the crypto index fund manager’s third ETF application this week. The capital advisor hopes to expand its digital asset offering by registering Delaware Trust for a potential (XRP) ETF on October 1.

Bitwise continued this process with official Form S-1 paperwork filed with the US SEC on October 2, confirming that the securities offering had been registered with the Wall Street regulator.

Before the Bitwise XRP ETF, or any crypto ETF, can list and trade on national exchanges, the SEC must approve both Form S-1 filings and Forms 19b-4.

Crypto fund applications came at the beginning of Q4, which has historically been a bullish period for cryptocurrencies and other assets. CryptoQuant and QCP Capital analysts noted that despite the war in the Middle East and recent corporate outflows, institutional appetite for Bitcoin and altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) has increased.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been particularly successful since their launch in January. Glassnode noted that US spot BTC ETFs hold approximately 5% of Bitcoin’s 21 million token supply.

US Spot ETFs have 4.6 percent #Bitcoin Supply worth $58 billion. Recent balance growth also includes Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust holdings, highlighting strong institutional demand for regulated BTC exposure. pic.twitter.com/6WTxIkVtHk

— camnode (@glassnode) October 4, 2024

In other words, investors have parked over $58 billion of capital in spot Bitcoin funds. Experts believe this trend will continue and accelerate as we move into the fourth quarter of the year.

Conversely, spot Ethereum ETFs have struggled compared to the pace shown by Bitcoin products. The spot ETH ETF complex had $6.4 billion in assets, per SoSoValue; this was just over 10% of spot BTC ETF assets. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said the ETH ETF will surprise observers within a year but acknowledged that Ethereum funds may have been launched too early.