Bitwise Index Services, a subsidiary of Bitwise Asset Management, creator of a cryptocurrency index fund, has launched three additional indexes covering the mid-cap, small-cap, and total-market segments of the cryptoasset market.
In addition, the company has renamed the HOLD 10 Index as the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index.
The new additions to the Bitwise Crypto Index family are: the Bitwise 20 Mid Cap Crypto Index (BITW20); Bitwise 70 Small Cap Crypto Index (BITW70); and Bitwise 100 Total Market Crypto Index (BITW100).
To support the indexes, Bitwise has launched an index advisory board, featuring experts in institutional indexing and cryptoeconomics – Srikant Dash (CFA), Spencer Bogart (VFA), and Matt Hougan.
Dash, is the former Global Head of Indexing for Bloomberg and the former Managing Director and Global Head of Research at Standard & Poor’s Indices. Today, over USD200 billion in ETF assets track indexes built by Dash. He was a long-standing member of the S&P 500 Index Committee.
Bogart, is a Partner and Head of Research at Blockchain Capital, a leading venture capital firm focused exclusively on the blockchain technology sector and crypto ecosystem. Prior to joining Blockchain Capital, he authored Wall Street’s first industry report highlighting the use cases, companies, and potential of blockchain technology as a Vice President at Needham & Company.
Hougan is the Global Head of Research at Bitwise and former CEO of both ETF.com and Inside ETFs. He helped create the world’s first ETF ratings and analytics service (which now powers FactSet’s ETF ratings), co-authored the CFA Institute’s monograph on ETFs, and appeared three times as a member of the Barron’s ETF roundtable.
The Bitwise Crypto Indexes are broadly available throughout the financial ecosystem, including via Bloomberg, Reuters, FactSet, and other data aggregators, as well as the Bitwise website and API.
Bitwise also announced the creation of API access and complimentary benchmarking for hedge funds, researchers, or others interested in high-quality crypto index data. Currently more than a dozen leading firms, including some of the best-known cryptoasset hedge funds in the world, benchmark against Bitwise indexes.
The Bitwise Crypto Indexes capture the investable cryptoasset market as measured and weighted by free-float and five-year inflation-adjusted market capitalization. The index methodology features rules that mitigate risks surrounding liquidity, security, exchange concentration, regulatory status, and more, and aim to fully capture the investable cryptomarket opportunity. Bitwise performs extensive research on more than 250 cryptoassets in the course of building its indexes, and consolidates pricing on thousands of individual crypto pairs representing 99.9 per cent of all eligible cryptoasset volume.
“Our indexes are built from the ground up to respond specifically to the cryptomarket,” says Hougan. “The methodology draws on best practices from the modern indexing of equities, bonds, commodities, and fiat currencies, and pairs them with crypto-native factors to ensure the indexes are safe and replicable. We believe they are the best representation of the investable cryptoasset market in the world.”
“One unique thing about Bitwise is the firm’s ability to blend deep, crypto-specific expertise with in-depth knowledge of institutional asset management and indexing,” says Bogart. “The Bitwise Crypto Index Advisory Board and the family of Bitwise indexes launching today are proof of that.”
“Well-constructed indexes and index-linked products are key to the development of efficient investment and risk management in any new asset class,” adds Dash. “I am pleased to help Bitwise bring such tools to the rapidly evolving cryptocurrency market.”
