Bitwise closes six crypto option-income ETFs after final valuation date
The funds tied to Coinbase, MARA, MicroStrategy, GameStop, Circle and ether reached their final NAV calculation on Aug. 7, with cash liquidation scheduled for Aug. 10.
By The Third AnglePublished 4 min read
The Chicago Board of Trade floor, used as an illustration for the mechanics of listed market products. Photo: Fixedsun / Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0
Bitwise is closing six exchange-traded funds built around crypto-linked option income. Friday, Aug. 7, was the final net asset value calculation date listed in the firm's corrected ETF-lineup announcement, and the funds are scheduled to liquidate on Aug. 10.
The affected tickers are ICOI, the Bitwise Coinbase Option Income Strategy ETF; IMRA, tied to MARA; IMST, tied to Strategy; IGME, tied to GameStop; ICRC, tied to Circle; and IETH, the Bitwise Ethereum Option Income Strategy ETF. Each fund's last trading day was July 31.
What shareholders receive
Investors who sold before the July 31 deadline could exit through the exchange. Holders who remained in the funds move into the liquidation process instead: Bitwise says they will be automatically redeemed for cash based on the final NAV, with payment expected around Aug. 10. That is a fund wind-down, not a conversion into a replacement product.
The structure matters for anyone reading the event as a market call. Option-income ETFs generally combine exposure to an asset or reference equity with an options overlay that can generate distributions. The tradeoff is that the overlay changes the path of returns and can limit participation in sharp moves. The SEC's IETH prospectus filing identifies the ether fund within that registered product structure.
A product decision, not a category verdict
Six closures at once will draw attention because the funds covered some of the most visible public-market crypto names. The announcement gives investors a precise timetable for the exit, but the event itself is product-specific. It is evidence that Bitwise is pruning part of its listed lineup, not enough evidence to conclude that crypto ETFs or option-income strategies have reached a single market-wide outcome.
The useful follow-through is mechanical: final NAV, cash payment timing, tax reporting and the way assets migrate, if at all, into other products. The immediate fact is simpler: these six tickers are leaving the exchange, and shareholders are being moved to cash liquidation.
