Key highlights:

  • Bitwise will liquidate its spot Dogecoin ETF with trading ending October 14
  • This comes about 10 months after its November 2025 launch
  • The fund failed to attract investors, with lifetime net flows in the negative zone

Crypto asset manager Bitwise announced that it will shut down its spot Dogecoin ETF. This comes after the product struggled to gain traction with investors in the 10 months of its trading.

Dogecoin ETF to stop trading over the coming weeks

Shares of the fund, which trades under the ticker BWOW on NYSE Arca, are expected to trade for the last time on October 14. Investors who want to sell their positions in the secondary market will need to do so by the close of trading that day. Creation of new shares will also stop before the market opens on October 15.

Bitwise plans to convert the Dogecoin ETF holdings into cash and calculate the fund's net asset value as of October 21. The firm would then distribute the corresponding cash payments to investors on October 22. 

The asset manager noted that these payouts could have taxable factors for some investors, depending on factors like purchase price and how long shares were held.

In its announcement, Bitwise pointed to a range of reasons for closing the Dogecoin ETF. 

"Bitwise has determined to liquidate the Fund as it continues to optimize its product range to meet evolving investor needs," the firm said in a statement. 

The company has coordinated with NYSE Arca on the fund's delisting, and its share registration will be withdrawn once the liquidation process wraps up.

Weak demand dampens early Launch buzz

The fund launched on November 26, 2025, with a 0.34% expense ratio, making it the cheapest of the spot Dogecoin ETFs launched in the U.S. at the time. It generated close to $3 million in trading volume during its first week. However, the fund never came close to matching it in the months that followed.

By June, its performance got worse. The fund's net asset value per share fell from $19.21 at the end of 2025 to $11.84, a decline of over 38%. Assets under management also dropped below $1 million.

Data from SoSoValue shows that Bitwise’s Dogecoin ETF lifetime net flows sit at negative $1.23 million, which means more money left the fund than came in.

Bitwise DOGE ETF inflows. Source: SoSoValue 

Meanwhile, other DOGE funds saw stronger, but modest, interest. Grayscale's fund pulled in $11.7 million over the same period, while a fund from 21Shares collected $1.63 million. 

All three funds tracking the meme coin in total have generated around $300 million in total trading volume since launch, which is minuscule when compared to Dogecoin ETFs linked to other altcoins. Hyperliquid, Zcash, and Chainlink, for instance, have seen much more substantial volume.

The meme coin has seen little price activity over the past year. Dogecoin is currently trading around $0.083 with a market cap of $13 billion. The coin slipped out of the top 10 coins by market value as tokens like HYPE and ZEC have climbed higher.