NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bitwise Asset Management, the world’s largest crypto index fund manager, today announced one of the most significant enhancements to the firm’s capabilities since its founding in 2017: the creation of Bitwise’s actively managed crypto strategies. The expansion into active strategies marks an important milestone for Bitwise, whose suite of more than 15 crypto solutions includes the world’s first and largest crypto index fund, along with strategies spanning Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, NFTs, Web3, crypto equities, and the Metaverse.
Bitwise’s move to add active strategies is being driven by fast-growing institutional demand for liquid crypto strategies. The company’s active team will be led by a newly assembled team of experts, headed by Jeffrey Park, CFA. Park, who brings nearly a decade of experience as a crypto investor, was most recently a partner at alternatives manager Corbin Capital, where he spearheaded the firm’s earliest investments into digital assets. Prior to that, Park held roles at Harvard Management Company and Morgan Stanley, specializing in fixed income and exotic derivatives.
Joining Park is Vincent Molino, who will head operational due diligence for Bitwise’s active solutions. Molino led and supported due diligence efforts for more than a decade at institutions including Northern Trust, Mercer, and EnTrustPermal. In addition, Denny Peng has joined the team from multi-strategy hedge fund complex Millennium Management and will serve as risk manager.
Bitwise’s new team will initially focus on multi-strategy absolute return solutions that seek to capitalize on market inefficiencies and place emphasis on low volatility and sound risk management.
“For the last half-decade, our sole focus at Bitwise has been pioneering ways for investors to access the opportunities emerging in crypto,” said Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley. “The addition of active strategies to our services is a huge step forward in our ability to do that. I’m proud to say we’ve assembled one of the most talented teams in the country to build out our new active strategies, leveraging the platform and experience we’ve developed at Bitwise.”
The announcement comes at a time when institutions are expressing greater interest in digital assets but face increasing complexity in assessing the space. The number of crypto-focused funds has grown from 31 in 2016 to more than 850 today, heightening the need for active strategies that can properly analyze and vet the investable universe for institutions.
“A new dimension of opportunity now presents itself as the market structure of liquid crypto has matured," said Active Portfolio Manager Jeffrey Park. "We believe market-neutral, yield, arbitrage, and quantitative strategies can be combined with top-tier long-oriented approaches to create unique absolute return opportunities. At Bitwise we have the industry’s deepest bench of experts in crypto research, operational due diligence, custody, trading, risk management, and regulation to help institutional investors navigate this frontier."
"Crypto has historically moved in four-year cycles—with three up years and one year of drawdowns," said Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise. "Amid this cycle's consolidation, many investors have quietly been doing their work and now perceive opportunity. At Bitwise, we see higher-quality and stronger tailwinds than ever before. We’re excited to add active strategies alongside our broad suite of index-based strategies to enable investors to access the opportunities in crypto."
Added Bitwise CEO Horsley: “Our aspiration remains simple: for Bitwise to be the leading specialist that investment professionals trust as their partner in crypto.”
About Bitwise Asset Management
Based in San Francisco, Bitwise is one of the largest and fastest-growing crypto asset managers. As of year-end 2021, Bitwise managed over $1.3 billion across an expanding suite of investment solutions. The firm is known for managing the world’s largest crypto index fund (OTCQX: BITW) and pioneering products spanning Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, and crypto-focused equity indexes. Bitwise focuses on partnering with financial advisors and investment professionals to provide quality education and research. The team at Bitwise combines expertise in technology with decades of experience in traditional asset management and indexing, coming from firms including BlackRock, Blackstone, Meta, and Google, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Bitwise is backed by leading institutional investors and asset management executives, and has been profiled in Institutional Investor, CNBC, Barron’s, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal.
RISK DISCLOSURE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Carefully consider the investment objectives, risk factors, and charges and expenses of any Bitwise investment product before investing. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. There is no guarantee or assurance that the methodology used by Bitwise or any of the Bitwise investment products will result in any Bitwise investment product achieving positive investment returns or outperforming other investment products. There is no guarantee or assurance that an investor’s investment objectives will be met through an investment into any Bitwise investment product, and an investor may lose money. Investors into any Bitwise investment product should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price of such investment product and the possibility of significant losses. Bitwise investment products involve a substantial degree of risk. Certain Bitwise investment products may be available only to institutional and individual accredited investors.
Certain of the Bitwise investment products may be subject to the risks associated with investing in crypto assets, including cryptocurrencies and crypto tokens. Because crypto assets are a new technological innovation with a limited history, they are a highly speculative asset. Future regulatory actions or policies may limit the ability to sell, exchange or use a crypto asset. The price of a crypto asset may be impacted by the transactions of a small number of holders of such crypto asset. Crypto assets may decline in popularity, acceptance or use, which may impact their price. The technology relating to crypto assets and blockchain is new and developing. Currently, there are a limited number of publicly listed or quoted companies for which crypto assets and blockchain technology represent an attributable and significant revenue stream.
NFTs are an extremely new artistic and cultural phenomenon, and interest in such artwork could wane. If the demand for NFT artwork diminishes, the prices of NFT items could be negatively affected. The market for NFTs can be subject to shallow trade volume, extreme hoarding, low liquidity and high bankruptcy risk. NFTs are also subject to risks and challenges associated with intellectual property rights and fraud.
In general, Metaverse protocols do not operate on a native blockchain, but rather are built and operated on other public blockchain networks. As a result, a Metaverse protocol does not control the blockchain network on which it operates. Any adverse impacts or changes on the underlying blockchain network could have a negative effect on the operation of the Metaverse protocol and, as a result, could impact the price of the Metaverse protocol’s digital asset. Such adverse impacts can include, but are not limited to, technical bugs, hacks, 51% attacks or network congestion due to, among other issues, high fees.
The opinions expressed herein are intended to provide insight or education and are not intended as individual investment advice. Bitwise does not represent that this information is accurate and complete and it should not be relied upon as such.
This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results. This information should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding the funds or any security in particular. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Diversification may not protect against market risk. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market.
Bitwise may attempt to have shares of its investment products quoted on a secondary market. However, there is no guarantee this will be successful. Although the shares of certain Bitwise investment products have been approved for trading on a secondary market, investors in any other Bitwise investment product should not assume that the shares will ever obtain such an approval due to a variety of factors, including questions that regulators such as the SEC, FINRA or other regulatory bodies may have regarding the investment product. Shareholders of such investment products should be prepared to bear the risk of investment in the shares indefinitely.
This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal, nor shall there be any sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction. The offer and sale of these investment products have not been registered with or approved or disapproved of by the Securities and Exchange Commission or the securities commission or regulatory authority of any state or foreign jurisdiction.