Fundraise, ‘open-minded’ SEC to fuel Bitwise growth
Bitwise essentially has three investment buckets that it hopes to grow, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said
Bitwise Asset Management CEO Hunter Horsley | DAS 2022 New York
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You may have seen one of the biggest crypto asset managers just raise $70 million as part of a push to broaden its offerings.
That would be Bitwise, which seeks expansion as more institutions enter the space and the SEC signals increased open-mindedness.
I caught up with CEO Hunter Horsley, who said the company expects to boost headcount from about 100 to roughly 130 this year. On the product front, it looks to not only bring more ETFs, but a slate of custom solutions.
Bitwise essentially has three investment buckets that it hopes to grow, Horsley explained. Its “beta” offerings are those most people know about (i.e. its crypto index fund, as well as the bitcoin and ether ETFs).
As part of its onchain solutions bucket, the firm offers non-custodial institutional staking via its acquisition of Attestant in November. And finally, there are Bitwise’s so-called alpha strategies.
The latter category involves custom SMAs for large institutional clients, for example.
“There’s a growing interest amongst owners of bitcoin to explore if there are ways to make their holdings productive and generate income or yield with that bitcoin,” Horsley explained.
Bitwise and other fund groups have proposals in front of the SEC to launch ETFs that hold assets beyond BTC and ETH. Feel free to refresh yourself here and here.
Horsley said Bitwise successfully uplisting its Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (if cleared to do so) would mark one of the biggest developments of the year. That ~$1.2 billion trust became the world’s first crypto index fund in 2017.
“A lot of investors are not going to build a portfolio of seven different single-coin ETFs,” he told me. “I think many, as they continue to explore beyond bitcoin, are interested in an index solution.”
Conversations Bitwise has had with the SEC after Trump’s inauguration are “more constructive,” Horsley said, calling the shift “a night-and-day change.”
He declined to speculate on the agency’s possible timeline in approving crypto ETFs beyond those holding BTC and ETH, but noted the SEC’s clear “openness to a broader set of things.”
Finally, I asked about how client conversations might have shifted since bitcoin’s latest plummet.
Horsley noted the vibes from some individuals/traders are “somewhat bearish and maybe a little bit fearful” — particularly those with exposure to small- and mid-cap cryptos.
As for mainstream investment pros, he said: “I think there is more interest, including this week, than ever before.”
After all, Horsley added: “Bitcoin having volatility is not a new phenomenon.”
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