Bitwise Asset Management's Bradley Duke on crypto ETPs, expansion plans and DATs

Recently, Block News Network had the pleasure of speaking to Bradley Duke, Head of Europe at Bitwise Asset Management.

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Why Europe’s crypto ETP ecosystem is important to the growth of institutional adoption in the region?

Many investors, both retail and institutional, prefer to invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies via ETPs because direct investment into crypto equates to a steep technology learning curve and concerns around self-custody. With ETPs investors can get exposure to crypto via their broker and trade on regulated exchanges in the same way as buying shares in their favourite companies. For many institutional investors, investing via an ETP is more capital efficient than direct investments.

By offering a well-established and regulated path to crypto investments, ETPs are an important channel to help investors globally to get exposure to crypto which in turn grows the overall crypto market cap.

2. What are your thoughts on the approval of crypto ETFs in the US?

The approval of US Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs last year and the more recently the Generic Listing Standard creating a path for other US crypto ETFs, are all hugely important to the crypto ecosystem. Besides the fact that US is the largest capital market in the world, and followed globally, the launch of these ETFs has been the most successful of any ETFs in history. It has also meant that there has been a growth in regulated derivatives products too and, importantly, the liquidity in these products has grown considerably. This creates opportunity for different types of investors including those who engage in more sophisticated, quantitative trading strategies. Greater liquidity equals greater efficiency which narrows spreads which has the effect of lower the cost of opening and closing investments in listed products.

3. What are your thoughts on crypto treasury companies?

Crypto treasury companies (DATs) have become huge buyers of crypto and typically do not sell. DATs coupled with ETF/ETPs – the other large group buying crypto – have led to immense buying pressure which helps to explain why Bitcoin, for example, has reached all-time-highs recently. Bitcoin DATs and Bitcoin ETF/Ps combined account for almost 12.5% of the available Bitcoin supply.

4. Tell us about the expansion plans of Bitwise Asset Management, hiring, offices, key focus areas?

We have been expanding on both sides of the Atlantic but in the UK and Europe specifically, we have been hiring in Sales, Operations, Research, Finance and Product. We will be moving to a new office in the City of London in December to accommodate the growth in personnel.

5. What would be your message to institutions that are still thinking about adopting digital assets?

Given the range, quality and calibre of institutions who are already invested in Bitcoin and crypto, there is a real risk of some institutions being left behind while their competitors outperform and grow their investor base. Bitwise provides high-quality crypto research including portfolio analysis and token specific investment cases and we see our role to accompany investors on this journey. We are happy to share our knowledge and expertise in this space as we know, being a relatively nascent asset class, that there is a lot to learn for investors and allocators alike.

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