Bitwise Launches First Tokenized Cryptocurrency Carry Fund
Bitwise Asset Management launched the Bitwise Crypto Carry Fund on May 7, its first tokenized fund, in a partnership with onchain asset infrastructure firm Superstate. The fund targets carry returns in cryptocurrency markets, meaning it captures the yield differential between spot cryptocurrency prices and futures prices.
It is available to accredited investors only and marks Bitwise’s first product built natively on blockchain rails rather than through traditional fund custody.
What the Bitwise Crypto Carry Fund Does
The fund pursues a carry strategy in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) markets. A carry strategy, in this context, captures the funding rate or basis spread between spot prices and perpetual futures or dated futures contracts.
Perpetual futures are derivatives with no expiration date that traders use to hold leveraged positions, and they pay periodic funding rates to keep prices anchored to spot. When funding rates are positive, sellers of perpetual futures collect yield from buyers.
The Bitwise Crypto Carry Fund systematically harvests that yield.
Superstate provides the tokenization infrastructure. The Bitwise announcement described Superstate as enabling the fund to exist as a token on a public blockchain, allowing subscription, redemption, and ownership records to settle on-chain rather than through traditional fund administrators.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley said in the release that tokenized funds represent the next evolution in how institutional investors access digital asset strategies.
Horsley said the carry fund is designed for investors who want cryptocurrency market exposure without taking directional price risk.
Why Carry Strategies Matter in Crypto
The carry trade has become one of the most watched yield sources in cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) funding rates turned consistently positive through most of 2025 and into 2026 as demand for leveraged long exposure outpaced spot buying. Traders willing to hold short futures positions against spot holdings collected that funding differential as income.
Traditional finance has long used carry trades in fixed income and currency markets.
Applying the same logic to cryptocurrency futures is not new among hedge funds, but packaging it as a tokenized, on-chain product for accredited investors is a structural development. The tokenization layer means the fund interest itself is transferable on-chain, can be used as collateral in decentralized finance protocols, and avoids some of the friction of traditional fund transfers.
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Background
Bitwise Asset Management operates one of the largest suites of cryptocurrency investment products in the United States, including spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs that launched following SEC approval in 2024.
The firm has positioned itself as a bridge between institutional capital and digital asset markets, emphasizing regulatory compliance and transparent fund structures.
The tokenized fund category has grown significantly over the past 18 months. BlackRock launched its BUIDL tokenized Treasury fund on Ethereum in March 2024, and Franklin Templeton expanded its own on-chain money market product to multiple blockchains through 2025.
Bitwise’s carry fund enters a market where tokenized real-world assets now represent several billion dollars in on-chain holdings, according to data tracked by DefiLlama.
Superstate was founded by Robert Leshner, the creator of the Compound lending protocol. The firm focuses specifically on building regulated financial products that operate on public blockchains, with a prior product offering tokenized short-duration Treasury exposure.
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What to Watch
The fund’s performance will depend on the persistence of positive funding rates in Bitcoin and Ethereum futures markets.
Funding rates compress or turn negative during bear markets and periods of low leveraged demand, which would reduce or eliminate the carry yield. Investors are also watching whether Bitwise follows this product with additional tokenized strategies, such as covered calls or basis trades across other cryptocurrency assets.
The broader question is whether a tokenized fund structure attracts capital that would not otherwise flow into traditional crypto hedge fund vehicles.
If on-chain settlement and collateral utility prove meaningful to institutional buyers, Bitwise and Superstate may have early-mover advantage in a product category that larger asset managers have not yet entered.
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