How Bitwise Funds Attracted $1.8 Billion in the First Half of the Year

Bitwise funds received over $1.8 billion in net inflows for the first half of 2026, reported Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise Asset Management. The result is particularly notable against the backdrop of a declining cryptocurrency market: during these months, digital assets mostly depreciated, yet investors continued to funnel money into the company's products.

Bitwise Asset Management is a management company that issues cryptocurrency investment products. Among the company's offerings are Vault, a tokenized Crypto Carry Fund, a thematic fund focused on Solana, and the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF (BITW); investors also track BITB and BITQ in comparison to the main lineup. A complete and up-to-date list of funds and their parameters can be conveniently checked on the Bitwise website.

Tom Lee Calls Bitwise's Result a Strong Signal

Tom Lee, co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, noted the success of the Bitwise team and described the capital inflow as impressive. In his view, the growing interest in the company's products is significant precisely because the money came not in response to rising quotes, but despite the weak market dynamics.

Hunter Horsley clarified that this refers to net inflows: these are new contributions minus the funds that clients withdrew from the funds. In other words, the figure reflects actual investments in Bitwise products, not paper profits from changes in asset values.

Tom Lee remained optimistic even during the downturn. In the same week, he highlighted 17 cryptocurrency stocks with high potential, while Bitcoin (BTCUSD) was trading around $77,400.

Investors Chose Yield Over Price Growth

According to Hunter Horsley, four Bitwise directions attracted at least $100 million each. Three of them are focused on regular income, and the company disclosed their rate of return. Therefore, the inflow is more related to the demand for income-generating instruments than to expectations of rapid price growth in the cryptocurrency market.

For quick comparison, these directions can be broken down by key parameters:

• Vault: launch - January; partner - on-chain lender Morpho; expected yield - 6% per annum on stablecoins.
• Tokenized Crypto Carry Fund: assets under management by the end of May - $259 million; yield - 4%.
• Thematic Bitwise Fund on Solana: launch - November; volume exceeded $500 million within 18 days; this is the fastest inflow among the four directions.
• Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF (BITW): does not provide payouts; bets on the largest tokens.

The main advantages of Bitwise index crypto funds for retail investors:

• Diversification: one product provides access to several crypto assets at once.
• Transparency: portfolio composition, fees, and net asset value can be tracked in reports and market services.
• Professional management: the fund's structure is monitored by a management team.
• Accessibility through the exchange: purchases are made through a familiar brokerage account.
• More restrained risk compared to buying an individual token, although market volatility remains.

The mechanics of the Crypto Carry Fund may seem complex, but the basic idea is simple. The manager buys cryptocurrency while simultaneously selling futures on the same asset and profits from the difference between these positions. This is an investment approach where the key role is not speculation on market direction but the structure of the deal and risk control.

The growing interest in staking has become a separate signal for the industry. The Bitwise product on Solana quickly gained large volume, while competitors simultaneously sought to bring Ethereum's yield into ETP format. For the exchange-traded fund market, this is an important topic: investors increasingly compare not only portfolio composition but also potential income after fees.

BITW Declined Along with the Market Despite Fee Reduction

The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF, trading under the ticker BITW, is structured differently. It is an index cryptocurrency product: the fund invests in major tokens, with approximately 91% of its structure allocated to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Therefore, the performance of BITW heavily depends on the dynamics of these two main crypto assets. In the same lineup, investors often track BITB and BITQ, comparing them based on the fund's objectives, portfolio composition, fees, liquidity, and risk.

Reports on the fund showed a significant decline in performance at the beginning of 2026. The net asset value dropped from $1.03 billion on December 31 to $678 million on March 31. Over three months, the decline amounted to 34%.

Two factors influenced the result. The fund's share price decreased by 24%, and investors withdrew 2.25 million shares, which corresponds to about 13% of the fund's capital. In market terminology, such a Share (finance) reflects the investor's stake in the fund, and its Price moves along with the underlying assets and demand for the product itself.

Fees were not the main source of pressure. Bitwise reduced the Cost of owning the fund: after its debut on NYSE Arca in December, the fee dropped from 2.50% to 0.75%. Meanwhile, for 2024, the same fund grew by 94.8%.

Where to Check Bitwise Price, Analytics, and Documents

The current price of BITW is more conveniently checked in the broker's trading terminal, on the fund's page at Bitwise, as well as on Bloomberg or Yahoo Finance. BITW trades on NYSE Arca; it is also advisable to verify exchange parameters before making a transaction.

Performance, analytics, and forecasts for BITW, BITB, and BITQ are usually sought in several places: on the Bitwise website, in Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, news aggregators, and in publications from the company itself. Financial documents and SEC filings are available through the Bitwise reporting sections and the SEC EDGAR database. One of the key public figures of the company is Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise Asset Management.

Purchasing through a brokerage account typically looks like this:

• Open a brokerage account with a broker that has access to Bitwise funds and NYSE Arca.
• Find the desired ticker, such as BITW, BITB, or BITQ.
• Check the price, fees, liquidity, fund documents, and risk.
• Choose the type of order and submit it.

For investors who are gradually learning about cryptocurrencies, Bitwise is also useful as a source of explanations: on the company’s website, one should look for educational materials, articles, guides, and webinars on funds and the crypto market.

To evaluate such products, investors usually look at not just one indicator but at the entire set of parameters:

• Asset composition in the portfolio.
• Net asset value.
• Risk.
• Costs.
• Liquidity.
• NBBO benchmarks.
• Overall return rate.

In the case of Bitwise, the balance of demand itself is also important: inflows into income-generating products continued even when the index BITW experienced a weak quarter.

The company itself felt the downturn. On August 12, Bitwise conducted layoffs: the staff decreased from approximately 180 to 155 employees. Nevertheless, the net inflow for the first half of the year shows that some clients continued to seek in Bitwise products not rapid price growth, but yield and a clear capital management structure.

It is important not to confuse Bitwise Asset Management with the technical term Bitwise operation: in this case, it refers to the business of the management company, funds, cryptocurrency instruments, and investors' capital.