Bitwise to donate 10% of Bitcoin ETF profits to support open-source development

Crypto index fund manager Bitwise pledges to allocate 10% of profits from the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF to support Bitcoin open-source development.

In an X thread on Jan. 11, Bitwise says it will send the proceeds of its Bitcoin spot ETF to three crypto organizations: Brink, OpenSats, and Human Rights Foundation.

Bitwise says that with the donations it wants to “express gratitude to the developers, researchers, builders, educators, investors, and the whole community striving to change the world for the better through Bitcoin.”

Investment firm VanEck earlier also pledged to allocate 5% of potential profits from its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF to support Bitcoin core developers at Brink. In a statement, VanEck expressed gratitude and acknowledged the role developers play as cornerstones of the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The announcement comes shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted approval to 11 firms, including Bitwise, BlackRock, and Grayscale. The firms are now authorized to start offering the first U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Bitcoin.

As crypto.news reported, the ETFs are approved for listing on all registered national exchanges in the U.S., including the Nasdaq, NYSE, and CBOE, with trading going live at the CBOE from 9 am on Jan. 11, when the U.S. stock market opens.

Hours before approval arrived, BlackRock and ARK 21Shares filed amended applications disclosing even lower fees than previously mentioned. However, Bitwise still offers the lowest management fees at 0.2%, followed by ARK 21Shares, BlackRock, and Fidelity in that order.