Bitwise has announced the closure of its Dogecoin ETF, BWOW, due to lackluster investor interest compared to other similar products in the market. The fund will cease trading on NYSE Arca on October 14 and be liquidated the following week, less than a year after its launch.
The decision to liquidate the ETF is part of Bitwise’s strategy to optimize its product lineup in response to evolving investor needs. Share creation will halt before trading opens on October 15, with remaining investors expected to receive cash based on the fund’s net asset value as of October 21, around October 22.
Despite the closure of BWOW, the broader US Dogecoin ETF market has seen modest capital inflows. Data from SoSoValue shows that the category has received around $12 million in cumulative net inflows and manages approximately $11.83 million in assets. BWOW accounts for only about $700,000 of these assets and has experienced roughly $1.23 million in cumulative net outflows.
Dogecoin, the original memecoin and a proof-of-work payment network launched in 2013, is ranked as the 11th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization according to CryptoSlate data, with a market value of approximately $13.07 billion.
BWOW saw minimal investor activity following its launch, recording a non-zero daily net flow on only three trading days throughout its history. The fund did not see any inflows until August 24, when around $146,000 entered the product. In contrast, Grayscale’s Dogecoin Trust ETF, GDOG, has attracted approximately $11.7 million in cumulative net inflows, while 21Shares’ TDOG has pulled in about $1.63 million.
Despite Bitwise’s lower expense ratio of 0.34% compared to competitors like Grayscale (0.35%) and 21Shares (0.50%), BWOW struggled to attract investor capital. Grayscale’s existing investor base and first-mover advantage contributed to GDOG’s success, while TDOG managed to outperform BWOW despite launching later.
The closure of BWOW marks Bitwise’s exit from a market where competitors have managed to attract more investor capital.
