Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) is set to acquire $120 million in Bitcoin from the Osprey Bitcoin Trust (OBTC) through a recently announced Asset Purchase Agreement between Bitwise Asset Management and Osprey Funds. This transaction, disclosed on August 27, will see OBTC unitholders receiving BITB shares as they liquidate their OBTC holdings. The deal is expected to close later this year, pending regulatory approval.
Osprey Funds, headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, launched OBTC on the OTC market in February 2021 with a 0.49% management fee. Initially, OBTC was a competitor to Grayscale Bitcoin Trust until GBTC converted to a spot Bitcoin ETF. Osprey even filed a lawsuit against Grayscale in January 2023, accusing it of misleading advertising that led to a monopoly in the market.
By March 2023, Osprey began considering selling or liquidating OBTC, as the trust’s units were trading at a discount to Bitcoin’s value. Greg King, founder and CEO of Osprey Funds, stated that this acquisition by Bitwise is the best solution for all parties involved. At the time of writing, OBTC’s assets under management stood at approximately $120.7 million.
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Over the past three years, OBTC’s returns have been around 9.5%, compared to Bitcoin’s 23.5% during the same period, according to data from Barchart and Yahoo Finance. The discount to Bitcoin for OBTC has fluctuated between 3% and 5% in the past month, while Bitwise’s BITB has traded much closer to Bitcoin’s NAV.
Since its launch seven months ago, Bitwise has attracted $2 billion in investor funds into its spot Bitcoin ETF, which has a lower management fee of 0.20%. However, its performance has lagged behind BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which has garnered nearly $21 billion in investments since January.
Cre: cointelegraph
I’m Jessi Lee, currently living in Singapore. I am currently working as a trader for AZCoin company, with 5 years of experience in the cryptocurrency market, I hope to bring you useful information and knowledge about virtual currency investment.
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