- Bitwise CIO implored crypto investors to go beyond Bitcoin.
- Some crypto indices outperformed BTC over the past five trading days.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan has championed a diversified crypto portfolio after last week’s Ethereum [ETH] 37% pump sidelined many investors.
ETH dropped 60% in the past four months amid heightened FUD and overall headwinds linked to the U.S.-China tariff war.
This pushed some investors to Bitcoin and other altcoins like Solana [SOL] and Ripple [XRP]. As a result, last week’s ETH pump may have caught many by surprise.
Go beyond BTC, says Hougan
To capitalize on such an opportunity, Hougan urged investors to go beyond BTC.
“Bitcoin is the king of crypto assets—the largest, most liquid, and most established. And yet I think most investors should own other crypto assets.”
He referenced the early internet boom in 2004, where Google dominated the search market.
But the internet was the general purpose layer (tech) supporting several verticals and segments like social media, retail, video, B2B software etc.
In fact, as of 2025, Google did well, but other leaders in key verticals like Netflix performed exceptionally well, something that wasn’t obvious in 2004, added Hougan.
Hougan believed that a similar scenario could play out for blockchains, which he equated to general-purpose tech like the internet.
“You can use a blockchain to create a better form of money (Bitcoin) or to create a programmable network for transferring “real-world assets” (Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche).”
He added that each network may offer different returns over time.
“If, for instance, you’re intrigued by the idea of nearly all the world’s assets moving onchain—history suggests you’d want to own a basket of crypto assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Chainlink, and more.”
The diversified crypto portfolio is the idea behind crypto index ETFs. In fact, from a traditional perspective, Hougan noted that individual equity funds have lagged behind indices.
“Over the past 20 years, actively managed U.S. equity funds have underperformed their benchmark indexes 97% of the time.”
Interestingly, Google Finance data, on the lower 5-day timeframe, supported his thesis.
Source: Google Finance (Performance as of 14th May, 6:54 UTC)
Compared to other crypto indices like Bitwise Crypto 10, Hashdex Crypto Index and S&P Crypto MegaCap Futures, BTC rallied less than 1%. But the crypto indices and ETH surged 13% over the same period.
Simply put, BTC investors could have gained an extra 13% or more if they were diversified to other crypto assets via ETFs or directly.
