Cryptocurrency: Bitwise shuts down its Dogcoin ETF less than a year after launch

Bitwise will close its Dogecoin ETF (BWOW) on October 14

Bitwise announced that it will close its Dogecoin ETF product BWOW, which will be launched at the end of November 2025. According to data cited by Cointelegraph, as of September 9, the fund's net assets were only approximately $688,000. Its last trading day on the New York Stock Exchange's Apache Market is scheduled for October 14, after which remaining investors are expected to receive refunds in cash around October 22. Therefore, in less than eleven months, this crypto asset experiment came to an end.

Core Summary

• BWOW will cease trading on October 14 after being in existence for less than a year.
• As of September 9, the fund's net assets were only approximately US$688,000.
• Filings filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) show that market interest has dropped significantly as early as the first half of this year.

Market response was lukewarm: BWOW failed to find a target audience

Bitwise launched BWOW on November 26, 2025 with a simple and clear intention: to allow investors to directly hold Dogecoin exposure through traditional brokerage accounts. At the time, the New York Stock Exchange had just approved Bitwise's Dogecoin ETF application. The product has an annual rate of 0.34%, and Bitwise even waived fees for the first $500 million of assets in the first month. Although Dogecoin originated from "memin" and was accused of lacking fundamental practical value, management still described it as "an iconic symbol of the crypto movement."

On its first day of launch, the product brought in approximately $3 million in transaction volume, but that did not last. According to The Block, BWOW never recovered to this level of daily trading volume. Cointerbune noticed the rapid cooling of interest in the Dogecoin ETF as early as December last year, when total trading volume of DOGE-related products fell to just $142,000 in a single transaction, a far cry from its early glory. Although BWOW continues to trade, its funding has shrunk significantly.

SEC filing reveals the truth about the loss of funds

BWOW's quarterly filing with the SEC revealed a figure that was not directly reflected in the announcement. As of December 31, 2025, the fund's net assets were US$1.15 million; as of June 30, 2026, only US$473,547 remained. The decline reached about 59% within half a year. At this time, the fund held 6.56 million DOGE units with a valuation of approximately US$473,699, and its acquisition cost was close to US$1 million.

Another detail is: No new shares were created in the first half of 2026. However, 20,000 shares were redeemed, resulting in an outflow of approximately $406,971. The decline in Dogecoin prices has exacerbated this trend. The price indicator used by the fund fell from $0.116546 at the end of December to $0.072199 at the end of June.

In fact, the story starts with more money. In the early days of the IPO, a subsidiary of Bitwise purchased the first 100,000 shares at a price of $25 per share, totaling $2.5 million. By the end of June, only 40,000 shares were still in circulation.

Since then, the fund's situation has recovered slightly. BWOW's official website shows that as of September 8, its assets were US$721,815 and 50,000 outstanding shares. Cointelegraph later reported that as of September 9, the figure was approximately $688,000. The difference between the two data is one day, mainly reflecting the fluctuations in DOGE prices. Still, the scale is still negligible for a product listed on NYSE Arca.

Bitwise optimizes its product line rather than withdrawing from the crypto space

Bitwise said it closed BWOW not because it was no longer optimistic about Dogecoin. In its press release, management only expressed its desire to "optimize its product portfolio" based on investors 'changing needs. The decision to close was made on September 10.

The timetable has been determined: October 14 is the last trading day. After the close, Bitwise will begin converting the fund's DOGE holdings into cash. The creation of new shares will be stopped before the market opens on October 15. Investors holding BWOW until the end do not need to take any action and will automatically receive cash based on net asset value per share calculated on October 21, with an expected payment date around October 22.

This is not Bitwise's first liquidation operation in 2026. In May this year, the company decided to liquidate two other ETFs-BWEB and BTOP-as part of a portfolio adjustment. However, the company remains very active in the crypto space. Its catalog still includes investment vehicles linked to products such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Chainlink and Avalanche.

Dogecoin's case is quite enlightening. In 2025, the surge in altcoin ETF applications triggered high expectations in the market. The SEC even postponed several decisions on Bitwise and other issuers before the new listing rules took effect, and ultimately received approval, but there were few investors. BWOW successfully brought Dogecoin to NYSE Arca, but it failed to attract enough capital to stay afloat.