When Bitwise Asset Management launched its Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, it made a promise: to give 10% of the gross profit every year to people who keep Bitcoin active. Fourteen months later, that promise is still being kept – and the checks are rolling in.
The Growing Commitment of Open Source Work
The company announced a donation of $233,000 on March 4, directed to three organizations that fund open source BTC developers: Brink, OpenSats, and the Human Rights Foundation’s Bitcoin Development Fund.
Combined with last year’s offering, Bitwise has now put more than $380,000 in the hands of the programmers who maintain and secure the world’s largest cryptocurrency network. None of that money came from the marketing budget or goodwill activities of the business. It came directly from the ETF’s profit.
As part of our annual commitment to support Bitcoin open source developers, Bitwise is proud to donate $233,000 to support the anonymous heroes who maintain and secure the Bitcoin network.
This year has seen significant growth for the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF ($BITB), making this… pic.twitter.com/wjEoLHDVsY
– Bitwise (@Bitwise) March 4, 2026
Image Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
The Bitcoin ETF at the center of this — ticker BITB — has attracted more than $2.5 billion in investor inflows since its launch. That growth is what makes up the size of the annual donation.
As BITB grows, so does the offering. Bitwise said this when announcing this year’s offering, confirming that future donations will be matched by the fund’s assets.
Thank you to @Bitwise the team to support open source Bitcoin development!
– Brink (@bitcoinbrink) March 4, 2026
Bitcoin’s Invisible Workforce
Open source developers rarely make headlines. They write code, review proposals, fix bugs, and debate technical improvements in public forums – mostly without pay.
The three nonprofit organizations that receive Bitwise’s donation are here to change that. Brink and OpenSats offer grants and fellowships to full-time contributors. The Human Rights Foundation’s Bitcoin Development Fund focuses on reaching developers in countries where financial freedom is most at risk.
For these organizations, the contributions of companies of this size are important. The main crypto asset development has no central authority and no company behind it writing the paychecks. Funding comes from sponsors, and matters of consistency.
Except for Crypto
Bitwise extended the same model to Ethereum. Based on reports, the company also donated a portion of the profits from its Ethereum ETF – ETHW – to Ethereum open source donors last year.
The company manages more than $15 billion in assets in more than 40 products, including ETFs linked to XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin.
The broader picture is a firm that uses its ETF business not just to profit from crypto, but to fund the work that keeps it running.
Whether that becomes the industry standard remains to be seen. Currently, Bitwise is one of the few that does it consistently – and puts receipts on the table every year.
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
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