All six reported a 0% 30-day SEC yield, while remaining holders face an automatic August cash redemption. Editor-in-Chief CryptoSlate
Aug. 2, 2026 at 12:05 am GMT 2 min read
Trading ended July 31 for Bitwise’s six option-income ETFs, with fund liquidations now underway. Five April payouts were estimated at 100% return of capital, while all six funds reported 0% SEC yields. Remaining holders face automatic cash redemption based on final NAV, with payment expected around Aug. 10. Friday, July 31, was the final trading day for six Bitwise option-income ETFs.
Shareholders still holding shares as of Aug. 3 face automatic cash redemption rather than an exchange sale. The Bitwise Funds Trust board voted June 30 to liquidate ICOI, IMRA, IMST, IGME, ICRC, and IETH, according to an SEC prospectus supplement.
The products use option-income strategies tied to Coinbase, Marathon Digital, Strategy, GameStop, Circle, and Ethereum. The funds were set to stop accepting creation and redemption orders after the July 31 close. Bitwise’s corrected timetable puts the final net asset value calculation on Aug. 7 and expects proceeds to reach investors through brokers or other financial intermediaries on or around Aug. 10.
More Read
That sequence means holders are not choosing an execution price once trading stops. Shares still held as of Aug. 3 are slated to be redeemed for cash at the fund’s NAV. The SEC filing says shareholders generally recognize a capital gain or loss, and a fund may or may not make one or more distributions before or with the redemption payment. What the April payouts contained Bitwise reported annualized distribution rates alongside standardized yields. Bitwise Asset Management’s April 23 payout estimate put the rates between 11.15% for IETH and 25.93% for IMST, while every fund’s 30-day SEC yield was 0%.
The measures answer different questions. Bitwise calculates the distribution rate by annualizing the latest monthly payment and dividing it by recent NAV; it explicitly says that figure is not total return. The 30-day SEC yield measures annualized dividends and interest after expenses. Return of capital is Bitwise’s estimate of the portion representing an investor’s original investment.
The issuer says distributions can reduce NAV and trading price, while the classification is not proof that a payout was fictitious. Bitwise estimated that the April payouts for ICOI, IMRA, IMST, ICRC, and IETH were 100% return of capital, while IGME was estimated at 0%. Those were dated estimates, not final tax characterizations.
The mix changed in Bitwise’s May estimate, when IMST was put at 23.01% return of capital and ICRC at 0%, while four peers were at 100%. CryptoSlate Daily Brief
Daily signals, zero noise. Market-moving headlines and context delivered every morning in one tight read. 5-minute digest 100k+ readers
Free. No spam.
Unsubscribe any time. You’re subscribed. Welcome aboard. By the June 25 distribution notice, Bitwise estimated all six payouts as 100% return of capital, again with a 0% SEC yield for every fund. Annualized distribution rates had moved to a range of 7.44% to 22.36%, while the same notice reported since-inception returns from -14.45% for IGME to -58.34% for IETH. Official fund pages dated July 26 through July 29 showed about $23.1 million of combined pre-liquidation AUM.
Their latest displayed NAVs ranged from $7.22 for IMST to $22.82 for IGME. Month-end figures as of June 29 put cumulative NAV returns since inception between -12.47% for IGME and -66.11% for IMST. What remaining holders receive next These figures are snapshots from different dates, leaving July 31 closing assets, liquidation values, and lifetime returns unknown. The available disclosures leave the board’s reason for closing the funds unanswered. The amount remaining holders receive will depend on the final NAV scheduled for Aug.
7, with cash expected around Aug. 10.
Mentioned in this article Follow the signal
Curated intelligence, delivered your way. Never miss a market-moving update.
Daily briefingTop stories & analysis Market movesKey charts & data Policy updatesWhat to watch Weekly deep diveLong-form insights
