Crypto asset management firm Bitwise on Wednesday became the first of 10 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers to publicly release digital wallet addresses.
The company is based in San Francisco Tweeted a screenshot This shows the Bitcoin address and holdings (11,858 Bitcoin) of the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) as of January 23rd. “Everyone can now see the fund’s holdings and flows directly on the blockchain,” the company said.
“On-chain transparency is core to the Bitcoin ethos,” Bitwise continued. “We are proud to stand with BITB. Publishing on-chain addresses is the first step towards increasing public transparency. As infrastructure evolves, we are working with companies such as We want to do more, including Hoeski This is to provide real-time cryptographic certificates. ”
Bitcoin, and the entire crypto ecosystem with it, is designed with the goal of unprecedented levels of transparency. As such, many participants in the industry often seek detailed insight into the financials behind most products and services, including newly launched ETFs.
Along with the Spot Bitcoin ETF, there are concerns from at least some people that the Tradfi industry will do with Bitcoin what it has done with other assets, i.e. with fancy packaging and derivatives, Concerns arose that it would turn a previously healthy product into something unrecognizable. A notable recent example would be the mortgage-backed securities bubble that caused the global financial crisis 15 years ago.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Bitcoin, but industry experts are praising Bitwise's move so far.
“An important first step towards on-chain accounting,” says prominent Silicon Valley investor and former Coinbase chief technology officer Written by Balaji Srinivasan.
“I love this from Bitwise.” Nate Geraci said, President of investment advisory company ETF Store. “ETF wrapper transparency vs. on-chain transparency. Another example of tradfi-defi bridging.”
As for Arkham Intelligence, earlier this week had already identified Bitcoin wallet addresses for Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton. Early this morning, the company was also identified VanEck and WisdomTree wallet addresses.
Excluding today's flows, Bitwise holds 11,858 Bitcoins worth $474 million, which is just under $40,000 at current Bitcoin prices. The asset manager is the most successful crypto-native ETF issuer to date, with $518 billion in inflows over the past eight days. Only the BlackRock and Fidelity spot ETFs had more inflows, at about $1.8 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively.
