Bitwise Bitcoin ETF to Receive $120 Million in Bitcoin from Asset Acquisition

Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) will receive $120 million in Bitcoin as part of a plan to acquire the assets of Osprey Bitcoin Trust (OBTC).

This development was announced on August 27 in a joint statement from Bitwise Asset Management and Osprey Funds outlining their asset purchase agreement.

As part of the deal, holders of shares in OBTC will receive shares of BITB when they liquidate their shares in OBTC. The transaction is expected to close later this year, pending the satisfaction of closing conditions.

Osprey Funds, headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, is launching OBTC on the OTC market in February 2021, offering U.S. investors a management fee of 0.49%. At the time, OBTC was competing with the much larger Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) before GBTC transitioned into a spot Bitcoin ETF.

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OBTC currently has about $120.7 million in assets under management. The fund’s three-year return is approximately 9.5%, compared to about 23% return for Bitcoin over the same period. This acquisition allows OBTC unitholders to benefit from Bitwise’s scale and expertise, with BITB trading closer to the value of Bitcoin, typically showing a discount or premium near 0%.

Alexander Stefanov