The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted approval on July 22, 2025, for Bitwise's plan to convert its $1.68 billion Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW) into a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), only to abruptly pause the decision hours later under Rule 431. This marks the second such reversal in weeks, following an identical pause of Grayscale's Digital Large Cap Fund earlier in July.
The BITW fund holds 90% of its weight in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), with the remaining 10% allocated across Solana (SOL), XRP, Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), Chainlink (LINK), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Uniswap (UNI), and Polkadot (DOT). SEC sources indicate the pause stems from unresolved regulatory standards for tokens like XRP and ADA that lack standalone ETFs, creating consistency concerns for multi-asset crypto products.
Identical language in both Bitwise and Grayscale pause orders – "the Commission will review the delegated action" – suggests coordinated regulatory reassessment. The 2.5% expense ratio for BITW remains unchanged, and Bitwise hasn't disclosed potential fee adjustments. Meanwhile, the SEC's docket shows concurrent reviews of Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, and Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin/ETH ETF amendments, plus separate SUI and ONDO ETF proposals.