Bitwise to Close Dogecoin ETF Before Its First Anniversary

Bitwise to Close Dogecoin ETF Before Its First Anniversary

Fri, September 11, 2026 at 7:16 PM GMT+3 2 min read

• DOGE-USD +2.13%

Crypto asset manager Bitwise is winding down its Dogecoin exchange-traded fund less than a year after launch, ending a product that held about $722,000 in assets this month.

Bitwise made the announcement on Thursday, telling investors that it would liquidate BWOW, with October 14 expected to be its final trading day on NYSE Arca.

"On Thursday, October 22, 2026, the remaining shareholders will receive the net asset value of their shares as of October 21, 2026, distributed in cash," Bitwise wrote. "Shareholders do not need to take any action during this process."

Bitwise said the decision was part of efforts to "optimize its product range to meet evolving investor needs."

An exchange-traded fund, or ETF, lets investors buy and sell shares on a stock exchange to gain exposure to assets like stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrencies without owning them directly.

The BWOW fund currently holds about 8.2 million DOGE worth roughly $688,000, according to the fund's website; Bitwise did not cite this as a reason for closing the fund.

The fund began trading November 26, 2025, offering investors exposure to Dogecoin through brokerage accounts without having to buy and store the cryptocurrency themselves. Its planned liquidation will come just under 11 months later.

Bitwise began pursuing the fund in early 2025, registering a Dogecoin ETF entity in Delaware that January. In November, Bitwise removed a delaying amendment from its SEC registration statement, allowing the filing to become effective after 20 days unless the agency intervened.

The Dogecoin ETF arrived during a wave of crypto fund launches as issuers expanded beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum into products tracking other tokens. Other firms launching Dogecoin products include Grayscale, which introduced its Dogecoin and XRP ETFs days earlier.

At BWOW's launch in November 2025, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley pointed to Dogecoin's staying power and its holders' appetite for an exchange-traded product.

"Bitwise is launching BWOW because many DOGE holders, a community that numbers in the millions, want the benefit that comes from getting exposure to crypto in an ETP format, and we believe they should have it," Horsley said at the time.