Bitwise

Bitwise Asset Management is a San Francisco based digital asset manager that specializes in index based and active crypto investment products for financial advisors, institutions, and individual investors. The firm is widely recognized for pioneering one of the first diversified crypto index funds and for helping traditional investors access spot Bitcoin and other crypto assets through regulated vehicles.

Overview

Operating under the Bitwise Investments brand, the firm positions itself as a global crypto asset manager with a broad suite of strategies that span exchange traded funds (ETFs), separately managed accounts, private funds, hedge fund strategies, and staking solutions. Bitwise focuses heavily on partnering with financial advisors, registered investment advisors (RIAs), family offices, and institutions, offering research driven education and rules based exposure to the crypto market.

History and Background

Bitwise Asset Management was founded in 2017 by Hunter Horsley and Hong Kim in San Francisco, California. Horsley, a former Facebook and Instagram product manager, serves as chief executive officer, while Kim brings a background in software engineering and security. Under their leadership, Bitwise grew into one of the largest dedicated crypto asset managers, known for launching the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW), one of the earliest widely cited crypto index products.

The firm has raised more than $80 million in equity funding from venture and strategic investors and has scaled to manage billions of dollars in client assets across its product range, according to public company profiles and corporate disclosures.

Core Products and Services

Bitwise’s product lineup is built around diversified index strategies and targeted single asset exposure, alongside income oriented and thematic funds. Key offerings include:

• Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW) – a diversified vehicle that seeks to track an index composed of the ten largest crypto assets by market capitalization, screened for liquidity and other risk criteria, weighted by market cap, and rebalanced monthly.
• Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) – a spot Bitcoin ETF that invests directly in BTC, designed to provide regulated, low cost Bitcoin exposure through a brokerage account structure.
• Solana ETF – a spot Solana ETF listed in the United States, which Bitwise launched in late 2025 using a regulatory path that allowed listing during a broader SEC shutdown, giving the firm a first mover position in Solana based ETFs.
• Option income ETFs – such as the Bitwise Coinbase Option Income Strategy ETF (ICOI), Bitwise Marathon Digital Option Income Strategy ETF (IMRA), and Bitwise MicroStrategy Option Income Strategy ETF (IMST), which sell options on crypto related equities to target monthly income.
• Additional private funds, separately managed accounts, and hedge fund solutions that provide exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, NFTs, and other segments of the crypto market.

BITB’s flows and market traction are regularly covered in industry and ETF flow analysis, including on CryptoSlate, reflecting its role among the leading US spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Technology and Investment Approach

Bitwise’s core index strategies rely on transparent, rules based methodologies. For products such as BITW, the underlying index is constructed from the largest crypto assets by market capitalization, subject to screens for exchange liquidity, custody, and regulatory and operational risks. The index is market cap weighted and is typically rebalanced monthly to capture market leadership changes while controlling turnover.

For single asset products such as the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, the firm uses institutional grade custodians to hold the underlying crypto and aims to minimize tracking error versus the spot market while managing operational and security risks. Across its lineup, Bitwise emphasizes research, market structure analysis, and client education as key components of its offering to professional investors.

Use Cases and Market Position

Bitwise products are primarily used by financial advisors and institutions that seek compliant, operationally streamlined access to crypto within existing investment workflows. Spot ETFs such as BITB and index funds such as BITW allow advisors to allocate small portfolio slices to crypto, often in the 1 to 5 percent range, while maintaining standard reporting, custody, and fee structures. The firm has secured platform approvals from large RIA networks, which has helped accelerate adoption.

Bitwise also engages directly with the developer community. It has pledged to dedicate 10 percent of the gross profits from BITB to support Bitcoin open source development, with initial contributions directed to organizations such as Brink, OpenSats, and the Human Rights Foundation. This commitment is covered in detail in CryptoSlate’s report on Bitwise’s pledge to Bitcoin developers.

Through these initiatives and its product mix, Bitwise competes with other large crypto ETP providers such as BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, and VanEck, while trying to differentiate on index design, education, and advisor centric service.

Funding, Leadership, and Team

The firm is led by CEO and co founder Hunter Horsley, whose background in consumer technology products informs Bitwise’s focus on user experience and communication for complex financial products. Public profiles report that Bitwise has raised more than $80 million in equity funding from investors including Khosla Ventures and other venture firms, and that it employs dozens of professionals with experience at companies such as BlackRock, Blackstone, Meta, Google, and leading law and regulatory institutions.

Risks and Considerations

Like all crypto asset managers, Bitwise operates within an evolving and sometimes uncertain regulatory environment. For example, the firm’s effort to convert the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund into an ETF has faced procedural delays at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including an SEC stay that paused an initial approval decision. CryptoSlate has covered these developments in its analysis of why the SEC has stalled new crypto ETFs even after preliminary green lights.

Bitwise products also carry the market risks inherent to crypto assets, including high volatility, potential drawdowns, and shifting liquidity conditions in spot and derivatives markets, which can affect tracking and flows. CryptoSlate has tracked both strong inflows and episodes of outflows in the BITB spot Bitcoin ETF, highlighting how investor positioning in these vehicles can change quickly.

In addition, Bitwise has had to clarify its identity relative to Bitwise Industries, a separate technology company that faced fraud charges and liquidation. Bitwise Asset Management publicly distanced itself from that entity, a distinction covered in the CryptoSlate article on how Bitwise Asset Management distanced itself from the failed startup of the same name. Investors considering Bitwise products should evaluate standard fund documentation, risk factors, and regulatory disclosures in light of these broader market and regulatory dynamics.