Crypto-focused fund manager Bitwise set a new precedent as it became the first U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to share its digital wallet address with the public to enhance public transparency.
"Now anyone can verify BITB's holdings and flows directly on the blockchain. Onchain transparency is core to Bitcoin's ethos. We're proud to walk the walk with BITB," Bitwise shared in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Bitwise's latest move is in line with the fundamental principles of Bitcoin (BTC), which prioritize transparency and open verification. Disclosing addresses allows investors and regulators to independently validate asset holdings and transaction flows.
The company also has articulated its desire to further extend these initiatives, with potential collaborations with Hoseki, a digital-asset authentication and verification service, with the goal of delivering instantaneous cryptographic attestations.
"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 @hosekiapp to provide real-time cryptographic attestations," the company added in its post on X.
Meanwhile, the crypto community lauded the move of the San Francisco-based firm, which saw more than $200 million in inflows on its first day of trading.
"I'm pretty sure this is a first for ETFs: someone donating underlying assets to the fund (which is now poss bc Bitwise published their bitcoin addresses). Never a dull moment I swear," Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said in a post on X.
I’m pretty sure this is a first for ETFs: someone donating underlying assets to the fund (which is now poss bc Bitwise published their bitcoin addresses). Never a dull moment I swear. https://t.co/FQX0gOaYGS
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 24, 2024
"$BITB is now the most transparent asset/ETF in the United States. Verifiable #BTC holdings on chain!," reinsurance broker Jeff Punter stated on X.
$BITB is now the most transparent asset/ETF in the United States. Verifiable #BTC holdings on chain! @PeterSchiff do the Gold ETF’s have verifiable proof of holdings at all times? How do we know that Gold asset managers are being honest? https://t.co/35g6QdU9Ww
— Jeff (@PunterJeff) January 24, 2024
Bitwise maintains 3.1% of the spot bitcoin ETF market share and saw $49.8 million in daily volume on Jan. 23, according to data published by The Block.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved several spot Bitcoin ETFs, with BlackRock and Fidelity's offerings leading the pack.
The BTC Spot ETFs experienced robust activity with high trading volumes. Since the launch, the cumulative trading volume of the 11 Spot ETFs amounted to about $16.6 billion in six days of trading, averaging about $2.77 billion daily, Matteo Greco, Research Analyst at the publicly listed digital asset and fintech investment business Fineqia International told International Business Times.
At 2:19 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, Bitcoin was up 0.02% at $40,001.03. The current circulating supply of Bitcoin stands at 19,607,937 BTC, and its market capitalization touched $784,304,822,407, based on the latest data sourced from CoinMarketCap.
