Bitwise and Vivek's Strive Plan Bitcoin Treasury ETFs

Bitwise Asset Management and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Strive Asset Management are each seeking to create exchange-traded funds (ETF) focused on companies with Bitcoin in their treasuries.

The two asset managers separately on Dec. 26 asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for permission to list these ETFs.

The Bitwise Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF aims to provide exposure to companies that have adopted what it calls the “bitcoin standard” by holding a significant amount of BTC in their corporate treasuries.

It defines Bitcoin Standard companies as those with at least 1,000 bitcoins in their treasuries. They must also have a market capitalization of at least $100 million, average daily liquidity of at least $1 million, and at least 10% of their shares publicly traded.

Bitwise won’t invest directly in bitcoin or bitcoin derivatives, only company shares. It already has spot bitcoin and ether ETFs up and running, among others.

Piling in

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said in an X post that Bitwise’s proposed ETF “is the one [people] have been asking for,” adding that those asking are mostly Crypto Twitter people. “Will see if [the talk] translates into real-world flows.”

Speaking of the Bitwise ETF filing, Nate Garaci, CEO of the ETF Store, said on X, “the btc treasury operations virus is spreading.”

One company eager to get into that ETF is bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings, whose CEO Fred Thiel said on X, “I assume $MARA would have to be included as we hold over 44,000 BTC in our treasury.”

Other firms with big bitcoin investments include MicroStrategy with 444,262 bitcoins worth $41.8 billion in its treasury, Tesla, with 9,720 BTC worth $914 million, and recent purchaser Metaplanet, with 1,762 BTC worth $166 million.

Bitcoin Bonds

The Strive Bitcoin Bond ETF, on the other hand, will invest directly in companies’ shares and indirectly through derivatives like swaps and options.

“We believe that both everyday Americans and institutional investors should have a meaningful core allocation to the Bitcoin economy in their portfolios,” Strive said on X. “That includes directly owning Bitcoin, allocating to Bitcoin bonds, and investing in Bitcoin-focused companies.”

The fund’s prospectus makes clear that Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy, a new NASDAQ 100 member, will be its primary investment.

Using swaps, Strive’s ETF will track convertible bonds issued to buy bitcoin.

“So essentially it’s a Microstrategy convertible bond ETF until other firms do the same,” Balchunas said in an X post.