Bitwise Opens Up About Bitcoin Savings For Spot Bitcoin ETF

Bitwise crypto asset manager companies publish bitcoin reserves. (Photo; Doc. Blockchain News)

JAKARTA - Bitwise, a crypto asset management company known for introducing BITB, the first bitcoin ETF spot in the United States, became the first ETF to prove its BTC reserves onchain. This step was taken as a form of transparency and accountability to investors and the public.

"Now Bitcoin Bitwise (BITB) ETF is the first bitcoin ETF in the US to publish bitcoin addresses of its assets," wrote Bitwise on social media platform X. "Now anyone can verify BITB assets and currents directly on the blockchain. Onchain transparency is at the heart of the Bitcoin ethos. We are proud to walk with BITB."

The company added: "Disposing of onchain addresses is the first step towards increasing public transparency. As infrastructure develops, we look forward to doing more, including working with companies like [Hoseki App] to provide crypto evidence in real-time."

Bitwise follows an increasing trend of its centralized exchange platform (CEX/Centralized Exchange) which published evidence of their reserves or Proof of Reserve (POR) in the past year. The use of the POR system, which has existed for years but only a few, increased after the fall of FTX, prompted exchanges to be more transparent in providing details about their crypto reserves.

Reported by Cryptonews, at 4:40 pm East Time (ET) on January 24, 2024, the Bitwise wallet, was identified as "1CKVs," having 11,858,63 BTC, with a value of around $470,74 million (Rp7.4 trillion) at the applicable exchange rate.

Since its creation on January 11, 2024, there have been a total of 17 transactions in this wallet. Ranking 71st among the 100 richest bitcoin addresses, the Bitwise wallet hasn't transferred any satoshi since it was created. It's still unclear whether other spot bitcoin ETFs will adopt a similar approach to address verification.