Bitwise, a four-year-old crypto asset management firm, has closed a Series B funding round, raising $70 million in fresh capital from investors.
According to a report by CNBC on Tuesday, major Wall Street figures such as billionaire investor and Bitcoin (BTC) proponent Stanley Druckenmiller and David McCormick, CEO of asset management giant Bridgewater Associates, participated in the funding.
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Commenting on the stellar cast of investors, CNBC quoted Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley stating that the company was keen to attract major Wall Street and crypto backers.
Bitwise will reportedly utilize the newly raised funds to beef up its balance sheet as well as double the size of its team. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Bitwise’s assets under management crossed the $1-billion mark back in February 2021.
The milestone came shortly on the heels of its AUM moving north of $500 million only a month prior. The company’s asset base growth coincided with a bullish frenzy in the crypto market as Bitcoin raced to a new all-time high above $64,000 before the current price downturn.
At the time of writing, the AUM for the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund has dipped to $796 million amid the cryptocurrency market downturn.
According to Horsley, the company’s focus is more long-term and is unfazed by periods of downtrends, stating, “We serve the long-term investor thinking if this has a role to play in the next five to 10 years of how they approach their portfolio and building a thesis.”
Related: For the long haul? When Bitcoin nosedived, institutions held fast
In a previous conversation with Cointelegraph, Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise, also espoused similar sentiments. At the time, Hougan argued that institutional investors are “making a generational bet” by investing in Bitcoin and are not worried about “a few weeks of volatility.”
Indeed, a recent survey by Intertrust of 100 financial officers at major hedge funds across the world has shown significant interest in crypto investments. According to the survey, as many as 10.6% of hedge funds in the United States will hold crypto assets within the next five years.
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