Bitwise Expands Crypto SMA Suite With Three New Strategies via Eaglebrook; Serves Growing Demand From Financial Advisors for Direct Crypto Holdings

Bitwise’s strategies on Eaglebrook’s separately managed account platform provide investors with professional management, direct crypto ownership, and advisor oversight of client holdings.

Bitwise Asset Management, one of the world’s leading crypto asset managers, today announced the launch of three new separately managed account (SMA) strategies available through the Eaglebrook platform. The SMA structure, which only recently became possible for crypto, allows individuals to move existing held-away crypto assets from digital wallets to a custodial account that can be monitored and reported on by their advisor, without triggering a taxable event. Advisors' clients retain direct ownership of the assets, which provides greater opportunities for tax-loss harvesting compared to traditional fund vehicles.

The new suite of Bitwise SMA strategies is available to a growing list of more than 50 leading RIAs utilizing the Eaglebrook platform, a premier turnkey asset management platform for wealth management firms.

Of the three Bitwise SMA offerings on Eaglebrook, two are tied to existing indexes: the Bitwise 10 Large Cap Crypto Index, which includes 10 of the most highly valued crypto assets, and the Bitwise Decentralized Finance Crypto Index, which tracks an index of the largest assets in decentralized finance. The third offering, the Bitwise Crypto Category Leaders SMA, is a new rules-based strategy that aims to select the leading crypto asset in each of the most important sectors in crypto. The resulting portfolio of blue-chip crypto assets provides diversified exposure to crypto’s fastest-growing use cases.

The launch brings Bitwise’s total number of SMA offerings to seven at a time when professional investors are increasingly embracing the vehicle. SMAs let advisors and institutions manage their clients’ crypto holdings in concert with an overall investment plan. A recent survey conducted by Bitwise and VettaFi found that 59% of advisors said “some” or “all” of their clients were investing in crypto on their own, outside of the advisory relationship. One of the most sought-after features of separately managed accounts is providing a tax-efficient means to bring those crypto assets under professional supervision.

“In the hundreds of conversations we have with professional investors across the country every week, one thing has become increasingly clear: SMAs present a major business opportunity for them,” said Bitwise Chief Distribution Officer Mick McLaughlin. “Through this partnership with Eaglebrook, we’re happy to provide a smart and integrated way for them to access the crypto opportunities many of their clients demand.”

Eaglebrook’s platform, which has grown to serve dozens of RIAs collectively managing over $200 billion since the company’s founding in 2019, allows for seamless client onboarding, investment execution, account management, and performance reporting integrated with the RIA’s portfolio management system.

“For the past five years, Bitwise’s singular focus has remained helping professional investors navigate and access the opportunities in crypto,” said Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley. “Today, we serve over 1,500 firms and wealth teams with a broad suite of solutions, spanning ETFs, private funds, hedge fund solutions, and SMAs. Interest in the SMA format has been rapidly growing, so we’re excited to partner with Eaglebrook, the leading SMA platform for wealth managers, to provide crypto solutions that are purpose-built for the needs of their practices.”

The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Strategy, the Bitwise DeFi Crypto Index Strategy, and the Bitwise Crypto Category Leaders Strategy are available to financial advisors on the Eaglebrook platform with a minimum investment of $10,000. Investors have direct ownership of crypto assets on the Gemini exchange, and 8949 tax statements are provided directly through the Eaglebrook platform.

The number of RIAs, advisor teams, family offices, and institutions that rely on Bitwise for their clients’ crypto exposure doubled in 2022 to over 1,500 firms, who navigate crypto with the support of Bitwise’s nationwide distribution and client service team.

For more information, visit https://eaglebrookadvisors.com/bitwise.

About Bitwise Asset Management

Based in San Francisco, Bitwise is one of the largest and fastest-growing crypto asset managers, offering both index and active strategies across a wide array of investment vehicles. The firm is known for creating the world’s largest crypto index fund (OTCQX: BITW), a suite of crypto-focused equity and futures ETFs, and investment products that span Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, NFTs, and the Metaverse. Bitwise focuses on partnering with financial advisors and investment professionals to provide quality education and research. The team at Bitwise combines expertise in technology with decades of experience in traditional asset management and indexing, coming from firms including BlackRock, Blackstone, Meta, and Google, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Bitwise is backed by leading institutional investors and asset management executives, and has been profiled in Institutional Investor, CNBC, Barron’s, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal.

About Eaglebrook

Eaglebrook Advisors is a turnkey asset management platform (TAMP) that provides institutional access to digital asset solutions and capabilities for wealth management firms and their clients. Eaglebrook’s investment platform offers access to third-party investment manager Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs), its own advisor-driven custom digital asset SMAs, and educational resources for advisors and clients. Eaglebrook is an SEC registered investment advisor that works with over 50 RIAs and has over 650 financial advisors allocating to digital assets through the Company’s TAMP. The company is backed by leading wealth management executives and financial institutions including Castle Island Ventures, Brewer Lane Ventures, and Franklin Templeton.

For more information about Eaglebrook, its products, services, and for important disclosures, please visit www.eaglebrookadvisors.com.

RISK DISCLOSURE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Carefully consider the investment objectives, risk factors, and charges and expenses of any Bitwise investment product before investing. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. There is no guarantee or assurance that the methodology used by Bitwise or any of the Bitwise investment products will result in any Bitwise investment product achieving positive investment returns or outperforming other investment products. There is no guarantee or assurance that an investor’s investment objectives will be met through an investment into any Bitwise investment product, and an investor may lose money. Investors into any Bitwise investment product should be willing to accept a high degree of volatility in the price of such investment product and the possibility of significant losses. Bitwise investment products involve a substantial degree of risk. Certain Bitwise investment products may be available only to institutional and individual accredited investors.

Certain of the Bitwise investment products may be subject to the risks associated with investing in crypto assets, including cryptocurrencies and crypto tokens. Because crypto assets are a new technological innovation with a limited history, they are a highly speculative asset. Future regulatory actions or policies may limit the ability to sell, exchange or use a crypto asset. The price of a crypto asset may be impacted by the transactions of a small number of holders of such crypto asset. Crypto assets may decline in popularity, acceptance or use, which may impact their price. The technology relating to crypto assets and blockchain is new and developing. Currently, there are a limited number of publicly listed or quoted companies for which crypto assets and blockchain technology represent an attributable and significant revenue stream.

NFTs are an extremely new artistic and cultural phenomenon, and interest in such artwork could wane. If the demand for NFT artwork diminishes, the prices of NFT items could be negatively affected. The market for NFTs can be subject to shallow trade volume, extreme hoarding, low liquidity and high bankruptcy risk. NFTs are also subject to risks and challenges associated with intellectual property rights and fraud.

In general, Metaverse protocols do not operate on a native blockchain, but rather are built and operated on other public blockchain networks. As a result, a Metaverse protocol does not control the blockchain network on which it operates. Any adverse impacts or changes on the underlying blockchain network could have a negative effect on the operation of the Metaverse protocol and, as a result, could impact the price of the Metaverse protocol’s digital asset. Such adverse impacts can include, but are not limited to, technical bugs, hacks, 51% attacks or network congestion due to, among other issues, high fees.

The opinions expressed herein are intended to provide insight or education and are not intended as individual investment advice. Bitwise does not represent that this information is accurate and complete and it should not be relied upon as such.

This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results. This information should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding the funds or any security in particular. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Diversification may not protect against market risk. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market.

Bitwise may attempt to have shares of its investment products quoted on a secondary market. However, there is no guarantee this will be successful. Although the shares of certain Bitwise investment products have been approved for trading on a secondary market, investors in any other Bitwise investment product should not assume that the shares will ever obtain such an approval due to a variety of factors, including questions that regulators such as the SEC, FINRA or other regulatory bodies may have regarding the investment product. Shareholders of such investment products should be prepared to bear the risk of investment in the shares indefinitely.

This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal, nor shall there be any sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction. The offer and sale of these investment products have not been registered with or approved or disapproved of by the Securities and Exchange Commission or the securities commission or regulatory authority of any state or foreign jurisdiction.

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