SecProbe.io

Filing text and metadata
Intelligence Terminal Search Topics Monthly Activity About

SEC Comment Letter 0000000000-24-000197 to Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB)

Bitwise Bitcoin ETF
Date: Jan. 5, 2024 · CIK: 0001763415 · Accession: 0000000000-24-000197

AI Filing Summary & Sentiment

Sentiment
Urgency
Document Type
Confidence
SEC Posture
Company Posture

Summary

Reasoning

File numbers found in text: 333-260235

Referenced dates: November 14, 2023

Date
January 5, 2024
Author
Not clearly detected
Form
UPLOAD
Company
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF

Letter

United States securities and exchange commission logo January 5, 2024 Hunter Horsley Chief Executive Officer Bitwise Bitcoin ETF c/o Bitwise Investment Advisers, LLC 250 Montgomery Street, Suite 200 San Francisco, CA 94104 Re:Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Amendment No. 3 to Registration Statement on Form S-1 Filed December 29, 2023 File No. 333-260235 Dear Hunter Horsley: We have reviewed your amended registration statement and have the following comments. Please respond to this letter by amending your registration statement and providing the requested information. If you do not believe a comment applies to your facts and circumstances or do not believe an amendment is appropriate, please tell us why in your response. After reviewing any amendment to your registration statement and the information you provide in response to this letter, we may have additional comments. Unless we note otherwise, any references to prior comments are to comments in our December 14, 2023 letter. Amendment No. 3 to Registration Statement on Form S-1 General 1.We note that your registration statement includes a number of blanks or bracketed information, including, for example, the amount of Sponsor Fee, the Authorized Participants with which you have an agreement with at the time of effectiveness and the party that has indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to $200 million of Shares in this offering from Authorized Participants. Please revise to include this information in your next amendment. Please also file your Prime Execution Agreement and Bitcoin Custody Agreement in executed form. Further, please revise throughout to use your new name where applicable. For example purposes only, we note the Signature Page.

FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley Comapany NameBitwise Bitcoin ETF January 5, 2024 Page 2 FirstName LastName Hunter Horsley Bitwise Bitcoin ETF January 5, 2024 Page 2 2.Please refer to comment 1 of our letter dated November 14, 2023. We note your disclosure on page 113 that you expect to use a fact sheet and that it would be provided on the Trust's website. To the extent that you intend to use a fact sheet, please provide us with a copy for our review. 3.Please revise throughout the prospectus to clarify, if true, that the only crypto asset to be held by the Trust will be bitcoin. In particular, please clarify, if true, that with respect to any fork, airdrop or similar event, the Sponsor will cause the Trust to irrevocably abandon the Incidental Rights or IR Virtual Currency, and in the event the Trust seeks to change this position, an application would need to be filed with the SEC by your listing exchange seeking approval to amend its listing rules. In addition, and for example purposes only, we note the following statements do not appear to be consistent with page 20 of the Trust Agreement which states that the Trust has explicitly disclaimed all Incidental Rights and IR Assets: •"In determining whether to attempt to acquire and/or retain any Incidental Right(s) and/or IR Asset(s)" on page 21. •"any Incidental Rights or IR Assets that the Trust may hold" on page 108. Cover Page 4.We note the disclosure regarding the Seed Shares purchased by Bitwise Asset Management. It is not clear why Bitwise Asset Management is identified as a statutory underwriter in connection with such purchase. In this regard, we note the disclosure regarding the Seed Baskets to be purchased by Bitwise Investment Manager, which is identified as a statutory underwriter in connection with the purchase of the Seed Baskets. 5.Please revise to disclose the number and price of the Seed Baskets that Bitwise Investment Manager intends to purchase. Purchases and Sales of Bitcoin, page 3 6.Please revise your disclosure to identify the Bitcoin Trading Counterparties. Risk Factors, page 10 7.We note your response to prior comment 6. Please tell us why the Bitcoin Custodian acting in the same capacity for several competing products does not pose a material risk if, when you are utilizing the Agent Execution Model, your purchase and sales needs are in conflict or competition with the purchase and sales needs of competing products that are also relying on Coinbase Inc., an affiliate of the Bitcoin Custodian, to purchase or sell bitcoin. Please consider, for example, whether a market disruption or other circumstance whereby no Bitcoin Trading Counterparty is able or willing to effectuate your purchase or sale of bitcoin would cause you and also your competitors to rely on the Agent Execution Model.

FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley Comapany NameBitwise Bitcoin ETF January 5, 2024 Page 3 FirstName LastName Hunter Horsley Bitwise Bitcoin ETF January 5, 2024 Page 3 The amount of bitcoin represented by a Share will decline over time, page 36 8.We note your response to prior comment 8 and reissue the comment. On page 37, you refer to "Shares that are issued in exchange for additional deposits of bitcoin" and, on page 36, to the "Authorized Participants' ability to purchase and sell bitcoin in an efficient manner to effectuate creation and redemption orders." Please revise here and throughout to clarify that creations of Shares will be cash transactions. In this regard, we note your disclosure on page 8 that "[i]t is currently anticipated that all sales and redemptions of Shares will be done in exchange for U.S. dollars and only in transactions with Authorized Participants." Although you state in your response letter that you deleted the referenced disclosure, it remains. Conducting creations and redemptions for cash has drawbacks, page 43 9.We note your revised disclosure that "[i]n the near term, the Trust will effect all of its creations and redemptions in cash, rather than in-kind." We have the following comment: •Please confirm your understanding, consistent with the undertaking required by Item 512(a)(1)(iii) of Regulation S-K, that you will file a post-effective amendment to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information. The Trust and Bitcoin Prices Purchase and Sale of Bitcoin, page 62 10.We note your response to prior comment 21. Please disclose who pays for the transfer fee with respect to the on-chain transfer of bitcoin from the Bitcoin Custodian to the Bitcoin Trading Counterparty in connection with redemptions. BRRNY Methodology, page 65 11.We note your response to prior comment 12, and we reissue in part. Please revise to disclose how the Trust will notify Shareholders if there is a material change to the BRRNY Methodology. Although you disclose how you will notify Shareholders of changes to the Constituent Platforms used to calculate the BRRNY, you do not disclose how the Trust will notify Shareholders if there are other material changes to the BRRNY Methodology. Calculation of NAV, page 68 12.Refer to your responses to comment 7 in our September 29, 2023 letter and related subsequent comments. We note your revised disclosure that the Trust will only allow cash redemptions, and observe that this change may have an impact on your fair value accounting policy, including principal market determination under ASC Topic 820. Please confirm your understanding that our decision not to issue additional comments should not

FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley Comapany NameBitwise Bitcoin ETF January 5, 2024 Page 4 FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley Bitwise Bitcoin ETF January 5, 2024 Page 4 be interpreted to mean that we either agree or disagree with your responses and your current fair value accounting policy. Please also confirm your understanding that we may comment further on this matter in future filing reviews once the Trust is operational. 13.We note your response to prior comment 14. Please disclose how the ITV is calculated based upon the CME Bitcoin Real Time Price. Although you discuss how the CME Bitcoin Real Time Price is calculated, you state that the ITV is "based" upon the CME Bitcoin Real Time Price, without discussing how the ITV itself is actually calculated. In addition, please revise the third-to-last sentence of the first paragraph on page 69, which appears to be an incomplete thought. Additional Information About the Trust The Trust's Fees and Expenses, page 71 14.We note your response to prior comment 5. Please revise to disclose on page 71 how you will undertake bitcoin sales to pay for expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, if no Bitcoin Trading Counterparty is willing or able to effectuate the trade. State, if true, that you will use the Agent Execution Model. 15.We note your response to prior comment 15. Please disclose who is responsible for paying the transaction costs related to the sale of bitcoin to generate funds to pay the Trust's fees and expenses. Custody of the Trust's Assets, page 78 16.We note your response to prior comment 9. Please revise your disclosure to explicitly state whether the commercial crime policy that Coinbase Global maintains, as discussed on pages 78 and 81, is separate from the commercial crime policy that the Coinbase Insureds maintain, as discussed on pages 79 and 81. Additionally, explicitly state whether this policy or these policies are separate from the insurance policy that the Bitcoin Custodian maintains, as discussed on pages 6, 45, and 101. Also, to the extent that any of these are separate policies, please ensure that you are disclosing the coverage amounts and all material terms. The Prime Execution Agent and the Trade Credit Lender The Trade Credit Lender, page 85 17.Please revise to quantify or otherwise describe the maximum amount of Trade Credit that the Trade Financing Agreement permits to be outstanding at any one time. Please also disclose whether the intention is to generally fund the Trading Balance at the Prime Execution Agent with sufficient cash or bitcoin or whether it regularly expects to utilize the Trade Financing Agreement. In addition, to the extent the execution price of the bitcoin acquired exceeds the cash deposit amount, disclose who bears the responsibility for this difference. Further, for creation and redemption transactions, please revise to clarify whether or not the interest payable on Trade Credits utilized under the Trade Financing Agreement are included in the execution price and therefore the responsibility

FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley Comapany NameBitwise Bitcoin ETF January 5, 2024 Page 5 FirstName LastName Hunter Horsley Bitwise Bitcoin ETF January 5, 2024 Page 5 of the Authorized Participants. If they are the responsibility of the Trust, please revise your risk factor disclosure accordingly to explain the impact such interest payments will have on the net assets of the Trust over time. Management; Voting by Shareholders, page 98 18.We note your response to prior comment 3. Please disclose here the "limited circumstances" under which shareholders have voting rights under the Trust Agreement. Governing Law; Consent to Delaware Jurisdiction, page 99 19.We note your response to prior comment 22. Please revise this section to disclose, as stated in Section 10.02 of your First Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust and Trust Agreement, that the Delaware governing law provision does not apply to causes of action for violations of U.S. federal or state securities laws, or advise. Material Contracts, page 100 20.We note your response to comment 18. Please revise to disclose the term of the Bitcoin Custody Agreement and the Prime Execution Agreement. Also disclose, as stated in your response letter, that you have given no instructions to the Bitcoin Custodian as it relates to Incidental Rights and IR Assets. Please contact Kate Tillan at 202-551-3604 or Michelle Miller at 202-551-3368 if you have questions regarding comments on the financial statements and related matters. Please contact John Dana Brown at 202-551-3859 or Sandra Hunter Berkheimer at 202-551-3758 with any other questions. Sincerely, Division of Corporation Finance Office of Crypto Assets cc: Richard J. Coyle

Show Raw Text
United States securities and exchange commission logo
January 5, 2024
Hunter Horsley
Chief Executive Officer
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF
c/o Bitwise Investment Advisers, LLC
250 Montgomery Street, Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94104
Re:Bitwise Bitcoin ETF
Amendment No. 3 to Registration Statement on Form S-1
Filed December 29, 2023
File No. 333-260235
Dear Hunter Horsley:
            We have reviewed your amended registration statement and have the following
comments.
            Please respond to this letter by amending your registration statement and providing the
requested information. If you do not believe a comment applies to your facts and circumstances
or do not believe an amendment is appropriate, please tell us why in your response.
            After reviewing any amendment to your registration statement and the information you
provide in response to this letter, we may have additional comments. Unless we note otherwise,
any references to prior comments are to comments in our December 14, 2023 letter.
Amendment No. 3 to Registration Statement on Form S-1
General
1.We note that your registration statement includes a number of blanks or bracketed
information, including, for example, the amount of Sponsor Fee, the Authorized
Participants with which you have an agreement with at the time of effectiveness and the
party that has indicated an interest in purchasing an aggregate of up to $200 million of
Shares in this offering from Authorized Participants. Please revise to include this
information in your next amendment.  Please also file your Prime Execution Agreement
and Bitcoin Custody Agreement in executed form. Further, please revise throughout to use
your new name where applicable.  For example purposes only, we note the Signature
Page.

 FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley
 Comapany NameBitwise Bitcoin ETF
 January 5, 2024 Page 2
 FirstName LastName
Hunter Horsley
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF
January 5, 2024
Page 2
2.Please refer to comment 1 of our letter dated November 14, 2023.  We note your
disclosure on page 113 that you expect to use a fact sheet and that it would be provided on
the Trust's website. To the extent that you intend to use a fact sheet, please provide us
with a copy for our review.
3.Please revise throughout the prospectus to clarify, if true, that the only crypto asset to be
held by the Trust will be bitcoin. In particular, please clarify, if true, that with respect to
any fork, airdrop or similar event, the Sponsor will cause the Trust to irrevocably abandon
the Incidental Rights or IR Virtual Currency, and in the event the Trust seeks to change
this position, an application would need to be filed with the SEC by your listing exchange
seeking approval to amend its listing rules.  In addition, and for example purposes only,
we note the following statements do not appear to be consistent with page 20 of the Trust
Agreement which states that the Trust has explicitly disclaimed all Incidental Rights and
IR Assets:
•"In determining whether to attempt to acquire and/or retain any Incidental Right(s)
and/or IR Asset(s)" on page 21.
•"any Incidental Rights or IR Assets that the Trust may hold" on page 108.
Cover Page
4.We note the disclosure regarding the Seed Shares purchased by Bitwise Asset
Management.  It is not clear why Bitwise Asset Management is identified as a statutory
underwriter in connection with such purchase.  In this regard, we note the disclosure
regarding the Seed Baskets to be purchased by Bitwise Investment Manager, which is
identified as a statutory underwriter in connection with the purchase of the Seed Baskets.
5.Please revise to disclose the number and price of the Seed Baskets that Bitwise Investment
Manager intends to purchase.
Purchases and Sales of Bitcoin, page 3
6.Please revise your disclosure to identify the Bitcoin Trading Counterparties.
Risk Factors, page 10
7.We note your response to prior comment 6. Please tell us why the Bitcoin Custodian
acting in the same capacity for several competing products does not pose a material risk if,
when you are utilizing the Agent Execution Model, your purchase and sales needs are in
conflict or competition with the purchase and sales needs of competing products that are
also relying on Coinbase Inc., an affiliate of the Bitcoin Custodian, to purchase or sell
bitcoin. Please consider, for example, whether a market disruption or other circumstance
whereby no Bitcoin Trading Counterparty is able or willing to effectuate your purchase or
sale of bitcoin would cause you and also your competitors to rely on the Agent Execution
Model.

 FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley
 Comapany NameBitwise Bitcoin ETF
 January 5, 2024 Page 3
 FirstName LastName
Hunter Horsley
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF
January 5, 2024
Page 3
The amount of bitcoin represented by a Share will decline over time, page 36
8.We note your response to prior comment 8 and reissue the comment. On page 37, you
refer to "Shares that are issued in exchange for additional deposits of bitcoin" and, on
page 36, to the "Authorized Participants' ability to purchase and sell bitcoin in an efficient
manner to effectuate creation and redemption orders." Please revise here and throughout
to clarify that creations of Shares will be cash transactions. In this regard, we note your
disclosure on page 8 that "[i]t is currently anticipated that all sales and redemptions of
Shares will be done in exchange for U.S. dollars and only in transactions with Authorized
Participants." Although you state in your response letter that you deleted the referenced
disclosure, it remains.
Conducting creations and redemptions for cash has drawbacks, page 43
9.We note your revised disclosure that "[i]n the near term, the Trust will effect all of its
creations and redemptions in cash, rather than in-kind." We have the following comment:
•Please confirm your understanding, consistent with the undertaking required by Item
512(a)(1)(iii) of Regulation S-K, that you will file a post-effective amendment to
include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not
previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such
information.
The Trust and Bitcoin Prices
Purchase and Sale of Bitcoin, page 62
10.We note your response to prior comment 21. Please disclose who pays for the transfer fee
with respect to the on-chain transfer of bitcoin from the Bitcoin Custodian to the Bitcoin
Trading Counterparty in connection with redemptions.
BRRNY Methodology, page 65
11.We note your response to prior comment 12, and we reissue in part. Please revise to
disclose how the Trust will notify Shareholders if there is a material change to the
BRRNY Methodology. Although you disclose how you will notify Shareholders of
changes to the Constituent Platforms used to calculate the BRRNY, you do not
disclose how the Trust will notify Shareholders if there are other material changes to the
BRRNY Methodology.
Calculation of NAV, page 68
12.Refer to your responses to comment 7 in our September 29, 2023 letter and related
subsequent comments. We note your revised disclosure that the Trust will only allow cash
redemptions, and observe that this change may have an impact on your fair value
accounting policy, including principal market determination under ASC Topic 820. Please
confirm your understanding that our decision not to issue additional comments should not

 FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley
 Comapany NameBitwise Bitcoin ETF
 January 5, 2024 Page 4
 FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF
January 5, 2024
Page 4
be interpreted to mean that we either agree or disagree with your responses and your
current fair value accounting policy. Please also confirm your understanding that we may
comment further on this matter in future filing reviews once the Trust is operational.
13.We note your response to prior comment 14. Please disclose how the ITV is calculated
based upon the CME Bitcoin Real Time Price. Although you discuss how the CME
Bitcoin Real Time Price is calculated, you state that the ITV is "based" upon the CME
Bitcoin Real Time Price, without discussing how the ITV itself is actually calculated. In
addition, please revise the third-to-last sentence of the first paragraph on page 69,
which appears to be an incomplete thought.
Additional Information About the Trust
The Trust's Fees and Expenses, page 71
14.We note your response to prior comment 5. Please revise to disclose on page 71 how you
will undertake bitcoin sales to pay for expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, if no Bitcoin
Trading Counterparty is willing or able to effectuate the trade. State, if true, that you will
use the Agent Execution Model.
15.We note your response to prior comment 15. Please disclose who is responsible for paying
the transaction costs related to the sale of bitcoin to generate funds to pay the Trust's fees
and expenses.
Custody of the Trust's Assets, page 78
16.We note your response to prior comment 9. Please revise your disclosure to explicitly
state whether the commercial crime policy that Coinbase Global maintains, as discussed
on pages 78 and 81, is separate from the commercial crime policy that the Coinbase
Insureds maintain, as discussed on pages 79 and 81. Additionally, explicitly state whether
this policy or these policies are separate from the insurance policy that the Bitcoin
Custodian maintains, as discussed on pages 6, 45, and 101.  Also, to the extent that any of
these are separate policies, please ensure that you are disclosing the coverage amounts and
all material terms.
The Prime Execution Agent and the Trade Credit Lender
The Trade Credit Lender, page 85
17.Please revise to quantify or otherwise describe the maximum amount of Trade Credit that
the Trade Financing Agreement permits to be outstanding at any one time. Please also
disclose whether the intention is to generally fund the Trading Balance at the Prime
Execution Agent with sufficient cash or bitcoin or whether it regularly expects to utilize
the Trade Financing Agreement. In addition, to the extent the execution price of the
bitcoin acquired exceeds the cash deposit amount, disclose who bears the responsibility
for this difference. Further, for creation and redemption transactions, please revise to
clarify whether or not the interest payable on Trade Credits utilized under the Trade
Financing Agreement are included in the execution price and therefore the responsibility

 FirstName LastNameHunter Horsley
 Comapany NameBitwise Bitcoin ETF
 January 5, 2024 Page 5
 FirstName LastName
Hunter Horsley
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF
January 5, 2024
Page 5
of the Authorized Participants. If they are the responsibility of the Trust, please revise
your risk factor disclosure accordingly to explain the impact such interest payments will
have on the net assets of the Trust over time.
Management; Voting by Shareholders, page 98
18.We note your response to prior comment 3. Please disclose here the "limited
circumstances" under which shareholders have voting rights under the Trust Agreement.
Governing Law; Consent to Delaware Jurisdiction, page 99
19.We note your response to prior comment 22. Please revise this section to disclose, as
stated in Section 10.02 of your First Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust and Trust
Agreement, that the Delaware governing law provision does not apply to causes of action
for violations of U.S. federal or state securities laws, or advise.
Material Contracts, page 100
20.We note your response to comment 18. Please revise to disclose the term of the Bitcoin
Custody Agreement and the Prime Execution Agreement. Also disclose, as stated in your
response letter, that you have given no instructions to the Bitcoin Custodian as it relates to
Incidental Rights and IR Assets.
            Please contact Kate Tillan at 202-551-3604 or Michelle Miller at 202-551-3368 if you
have questions regarding comments on the financial statements and related matters. Please
contact John Dana Brown at 202-551-3859 or Sandra Hunter Berkheimer at 202-551-3758 with
any other questions.
Sincerely,
Division of Corporation Finance
Office of Crypto Assets
cc:       Richard J. Coyle