In brief
- Bitwise donated $233,000 across three open-source Bitcoin development organizations.
- The firm used proceeds from its Bitcoin ETF, BITB, which has more than $2.7 billion in assets under management.
- Last year, the firm predicted that Bitcoin would end its historical four-year cycle and reach a new all-time high in 2026.
Crypto asset management firm and ETF issuer Bitwise donated $233,000 to three Bitcoin developer organizations to support those who maintain the leading crypto asset’s network.
The donation is the firm’s second annual contribution of the kind and was funded using profits derived from Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF—BITB—which has more than $2.7 billion in assets under management.
The gift was made to Brink, OpenSats, and the Human Rights Foundation’s Bitcoin Development Fund. The trio were also the recipients of Bitwise’s 2025 donation of $150,000.
“Open-source developers are the unsung heroes of Bitcoin, donating their time to secure the network and uphold its integrity,” Bitwise Asset Management co-founder and CTO Hong Kim told Decrypt.
“We believe that as the industry grows, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of this ecosystem—just as any financial institution invests in its own internal infrastructure, we must invest in the independent developers who maintain, protect, and help the protocol evolve,” he added.
According to Kim, the firm chose the three organizations because of their “deep-rooted commitment to the Bitcoin network and protocol.”
Bitcoin has jumped more than 7.5% in the last 24 hours, recently changing hands around $73,210. The top crypto asset has fallen around 42% from its October all-time high of $126,080—part of a sharp drawdown that some industry observers believe is the continuation of its historic four-year cycle.
But not everyone agrees that the historical cycle is continuing.
As part of its 2026 forecast, Bitwise predicted that Bitcoin would make a new all-time high this year as cyclical drivers from previous cycles—like interest rates, Bitcoin’s halving, and leverage booms and busts—would have a diminishing effect on the asset’s price.
In addition to using the profits from its Bitcoin ETF, last year the firm also made donations to Ethereum open-source developers utilizing the profits from its spot ETH ETF, ETHW.
The asset management firm had $15 billion in assets under management at the turn of the year, according to its recent announcement. It also has more than 40 investment products, including altcoin ETFs for XRP, Solana, and leading meme coin Dogecoin in addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
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