Matt Hougan, chief information officer at Bitwise, said that a properly diversified BTC and ETH portfolio can generate greater returns and less downside volatility than simply investing in Bitcoin. Hougan offered three reasons why this might be a good idea. Hougan writes that the first is to diversify. Since predicting the future of cryptocurrencies is difficult, holding shares in two major assets simultaneously can provide investors with protection in case one falls out of favor or devours the other over time. Second, Mr. Hougan said the different nature of Bitcoin, which is optimised to be a "better currency", and Ethereum, which aims to be a "programmable currency" that enables blockchain applications such as stablecoins and DeFi, made it difficult to choose between the two. Finally, Hougan said that the historical performance of these two assets suggests that they work best when they are balanced in a portfolio.