The team at a cryptocurrency-focused, seven-year-old, California asset manager is preparing to the transform a $27.587-million-AUM trio of funds.

Matthew "Matt" Hougan Bitwise Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Officer

On Friday (October 4), Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management, and Teddy Fusaro, president, revealed planned strategy and name changes for the Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy Optimum Roll ETF (BITC), the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ether Equal Weight Strategy ETF (BTOP), and the Bitwise Ethereum Strategy ETF (AETH). The Bitwise team will switch in their proprietary Trendwise strategy, which tracks cryptocurrency price momentum and will switch the funds accordingly between being betting on cryptocurrency and investing in U.S. Treasuries; all three ETFs currently use long-only crypto strategies. The conversions are scheduled for December 3, and the tickers will remain unchanged.

AETH will rebrand as the Bitwise Trendwise Ethereum and Treasuries Rotation ETF. Its inception date was September 29, 2023, it has an expense ratio of 90 basis points (baking in a 67bps fee waiver promised through October 2, 2025), and as of yesterday (October 9, 2024) it had $8.535 million in AUM.

BTOP will rebrand as the Bitwise Trendwise BTC/ETH and Treasuries Rotation Strategy ETF. BTOP has the same inception date and expense ratio as AETH, and as of yesterday BTOP had $7.853 million in AUM.

BITC will rebrand as the Bitwise Trendwise Bitcoin and Treasuries Rotation Strategy ETF. Its inception date was March 20, 2023, it has an expense ratio of 88bps (baking in a 251bps fee waiver promised through May 1, 2027), and as of yesterday it had $11.199 million in AUM.

Hougan notes that the "well-established factor" of momentum is "powerful in crypto as well."

"The new Trendwise strategies capitalize on that momentum through a trend-following strategy that rotates between crypto and Treasuries exposure based on market direction," Hougan states. "The goal is to help minimize downside volatility and potentially improve risk-adjusted returns."

Fusaro describes the triple conversion as introducing "new groundbreaking strategies ... to give investors more options for accessing the market."

"At Bitwise, we believe there are many different ways in which investors will want to gain access to this new and emerging asset class," Fusaro states.

Bitwise Investment Manager, LLC (BIM) serves as investment advisor to all three converting ETFs. Jennifer Thornton, a portfolio manager at BIM, has been on the PM team for all three funds since inception. Daniela Padilla, an associate PM at BIM, has also PMed BTOP and AETH since inception.

Vident Advisory, LLC (dba Vident Asset Management) serves as subadvisor for BITC. Austin Wen, a Vident PM, has PMed BITC alongside Thornton since inception. And Rafael Zayas, senior vice president and head of portfolio management and trading at Vident, has been on BITC's PM team sice April 2024.

BTOP, BITC, and AETH all trade on the NYSE Arca, and they're each active, non-diversified series of the Bitwise Funds Trust. The converting ETFs' other service providers include: Bank of New York Mellon as administrator, custodian, dividend disbursing agent, fund accountant, and transfer agent; Chapman and Cutler, LLP as counsel; ACA's Foreside Fund Services as distributor; and KPMG LLP as independent accounting firm. 

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