Another ETF Veteran Goes Crypto
Bitwise Asset Management hires John Hyland as global head of exchange-traded products.
Bitwise Asset Management has hired ETF veteran John Hyland as the firm focuses aggressively on developing public vehicles for accessing crypto-assets around the world.
Hyland joins the firm as its new global head of exchange-traded products.
He was previously chief investment officer and leader of United States Commodity Funds, a multibillion-dollar ETF manager based in Oakland, California. Under Hyland’s leadership, United States Commodity Funds managed more than $7 billion in commodity exposure in an ETF wrapper.
Bitwise notes that exchange-traded products haven’t been possible in the cryptocurrency space so far in the U.S.
According to Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise, Hyland — who has deep experience in working with regulators and partners to introduce first-of-a-kind ETFs — will lead the firm’s efforts on this front.
According to the press release, Hyland is well-known for spearheading the launch of the first crude oil ETF, the first natural gas ETF, the first copper ETF and the United States Commodity Index Fund.
“Bitwise is committed to making it easy for any investor to get secure, convenient, and low-cost exposure to cryptoassets,” Horsley said in a statement. “Exchange-traded products, such as ETFs, are a fantastic way to do that in an efficient wrapper.”
Hyland joins two other senior ETF veterans who have signed on with Bitwise in recent months. Matt Hougan, former CEO of both ETF.com and Inside ETFs, joined the firm in February as global head of research. Teddy Fusaro also joined the firm as its chief operating officer in April after helping build two significant ETF firms, Direxion and IndexIQ.
Bitwise launched a cryptocurrency index fund, the HOLD 10 Private Index Fund, in November of last year. The fund is available to accredited investors and charges a management fee for its Investor Class of 2.5% per year.
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