Crypto
asset
manager
Bitwise
on
Wednesday
became
the
first
of
the
ten
spot
bitcoin
exchange-traded
fund
(ETF)
issuers
to
share
its
digital
wallet
address
with
the
public.
The
San
Francisco-based
firm
tweeted
a
screenshot
showing
the
Bitwise
Bitcoin
ETF’s
(BITB)
bitcoin
address
along
with
holdings
(11,858
bitcoin)
as
of
January
23.
“Anyone
can
now
verify
the
fund’s
holdings
and
flows
directly
on
the
blockchain,”
said
the
company.
“Onchain
transparency
is
core
to
bitcoin’s
ethos,”
Bitwise
continued.
“We’re
proud
to
walk
the
walk
with
BITB.
Publishing
on-chain
addresses
is
a
first
step
toward
increasing
public
transparency
As
infrastructure
evolves,
we
hope
to
do
more,
such
as
working
with
firms
like
Hoeski
to
provide
real-time
cryptographic
attestations.”
Bitcoin,
and
with
that
the
whole
crypto
ecosystem,
was
designed
with
the
goal
of
an
unprecedented
level
of
transparency,
which
is
why
many
participants
in
the
industry
often
demand
detailed
insights
into
the
financials
behind
most
products
and
services,
including
the
newly
launched
ETFs.
Along
with
the
spot
bitcoin
ETFs
came
concerns
from
at
least
a
few
that
the
tradfi
industry
might
do
to
bitcoin
what
it’s
done
for
other
assets
–
use
fancy
packaging
and
derivatives
to
transform
once
wholesome
products
into
something
unrecognizable.
The
most
recent
example
of
note
would
be
the
mortgage
backed
security
bubble
that
led
to
the
global
financial
crisis
15
years
ago.
It
remains
to
be
seen
what
lies
ahead
for
bitcoin,
but
industry
experts
for
now
are
applauding
the
move
by
Bitwise.
“An
important
first
step
toward
onchain
accounting,”
prominent
Silicon
Valley
investor
and
former
chief
technology
officer
at
Coinbase
Balaji
Srinivasan
wrote.
“Love
this
from
Bitwise,”
said
Nate
Geraci,
president
of
investment
advisory
firm
ETF
Store.
“Transparency
of
ETF
wrapper
plus
onchain
transparency.
Another
example
of
tradfi-defi
bridge
building.”
For
its
part,
Arkham
Intelligence
earlier
this
week
had
already
identified
bitcoin
wallet
addresses
from
Bitwise,
BlackRock,
Fidelity
and
Franklin
Templeton.
Earlier
today,
the
company
also
identified
wallet
addresses
for
VanEck
and
WisdomTree.
Not
including
any
flows
today,
Bitwise
holds
11,858
bitcoins
worth
roughly
$474
million
at
the
current
bitcoin
price
just
under
$40,000.
The
asset
manager
is
the
most
successful
crypto-native
ETF
issuer
so
far
with
$518
billion
of
inflows
in
the
past
eight
days.
Only
spot
ETFs
from
BlackRock
and
Fidelity
have
seen
more
inflows,
roughly
$1.8
billion
and
$1.5
billion,
respectively.