Bitwise pitched a diversified 10-crypto fund, then lost $500 million as Bitcoin swallowed 78% of the portfolio

Bitwise’s 10 Crypto Index ETF ended the first half of 2026 with nearly half the net assets it started with, while its 10-asset basket became more concentrated in Bitcoin.

Net assets at BITW fell 48.27%, from $1.03 billion on Dec. 31 to $532.8 million on June 30, according to the fund’s quarterly filing. That contraction was not the return experienced by an investor: the fund reported a negative 36.16% Principal Market NAV total return per share for the six months, while its outstanding share count declined 18.97%.

The net-asset change combined two forces. Market performance reduced the value of each share, while net redemptions reduced the number of shares outstanding.

Losses, redemptions and a heavier Bitcoin tilt

Operations reduced BITW’s net assets by $339.4 million during the six-month period. The fund recorded $430.7 million of unrealized depreciation and a $2.8 million net investment loss, partly offset by $94.1 million of realized gains.

Capital-share transactions accounted for another $157.7 million reduction. BITW recorded $161.2 million of redemptions against $3.5 million of creations, while shares outstanding fell from 17,451,947 to 14,141,947.

Those redemptions occurred through authorized participants, the financial firms permitted to transact directly with the trust in 10,000-share blocks. The filing does not identify the ultimate investors behind those transactions, so the figures do not establish retail flight.

A separate cash-flow line shows $178.3 million paid for redemptions. The difference reflects timing: the cash figure includes the $161.2 million current-period redemptions plus settlement of a $17.1 million redemption payable outstanding at the end of 2025.

BITW’s investment schedules show Bitcoin rising from 75.11% of shareholders’ equity in December to 77.81% in June. Ethereum moved in the opposite direction, falling from 15.41% to 12.59%.

The constituents changed as well. Hyperliquid and Stellar appeared in the June schedule, while Avalanche and Polkadot, which were present in December, were absent.

The disclosures do not attribute those shifts to one cause. BITW says it rebalances monthly in line with an index governed by rules-based reconstitution and weighting. Relative asset prices, redemption-related sales and scheduled rebalancing are possible mechanisms, but the filing does not quantify their contributions.

The filing also does not establish whether the basket cushioned losses relative to Bitcoin or another benchmark. It does show that BITW suffered a steep first-half drawdown and that the June portfolio ended with a larger share tied to Bitcoin.