Bitwise rolls out Dogecoin ETF on the NYSE: 'Against the odds, it has kept its relevance'

Crypto fund manager Bitwise launched its Dogecoin exchange-traded fund on Wednesday, debuting the product — built around a picture of a cute dog — on the New York Stock Exchange.

"DOGE began as a joke and came to become an icon of the crypto movement. It doesn't purport to transform global capital markets or convince you it has fundamentals or utility," said Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley in a statement . "DOGE is simply a 12-year-old coin based on a picture of a cute dog, people doing good, and the common ideal in crypto that people should have the freedom to do as they choose."

"And, against the odds, it has kept its relevance—and its value—longer than just about anything else in crypto," Horsley added, and said that Bitwise launched its ETF because DOGE holders want the benefits of such a fund.

Dogecoin is the 10th largest crypto by market capitalization at $23 billion. The coin started as a meme featuring the Shiba Inu dog that later caught billionaire Elon Musk's attention as the billionaire regularly posted about the memecoin. Later in 2025, Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy led the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE , which helped push the coin north of $0.40 at one point, although it has come all the way back down to the $0.15 area. This past week, Reuters reported the department had been disbanded earlier than expected.

The Bitwise Dogecoin ETF (ticker BWOW) joins a growing field of DOGE-based funds. The Grayscale Dogecoin ETF began trading on Monday and the REX-Osprey DOGE ETF launched in September. The latter one took a different approach since it is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 — a federal law that regulates investment funds that pool capital from investors to pursue a common investment strategy.

Grayscale's GDOG saw $1.4 million in day-one trading volume, which Bloomberg's Eric Balchunas said was "solid for an avg launch but low for a 'first-ever spot' product. Not too surprising tho."

NYSE Arca, a subsidiary of the NYSE Group, certified Bitwise's listing on Tuesday, setting BWOW up for launch. The Bitwise Dogecoin ETF looks to provide exposure to the memecoin's value and said Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC will serve as the custodian, according to a previous registration statement.