Ten spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applicants have filed their final amended registration statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The amended filings reveal a fierce fee war among spot bitcoin ETF issuers. Grayscale charges the highest fee of 1.5% while Bitwise undercuts rivals with the lowest fee of 0.24%, applicable after a six-month fee waiver. Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, will charge 0.20% for the first 12 months and $5 billion, rising to 0.30% thereafter.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Get Closer to Approval
Ten final amended registration statements for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) flooded the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Monday’s 8 a.m. deadline. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart shared on social media platform X Monday morning an updated list of spot bitcoin ETF issuers that have submitted their amended S-1 filings (S-3 for Grayscale’s spot bitcoin ETF conversion) with the SEC by the deadline.
The amended filings have revealed a fee war among spot bitcoin ETF issuers. Crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments has set the highest fee of 1.5% while Bitwise offers the lowest fee of 0.24% with a fee waiver for 6 months on the first $1 billion of trust assets.
The Ark Invest/21shares‘ spot bitcoin ETF offers the second-lowest fee of 0.25% with a fee waiver for the first six months or $1 billion. Vaneck also offers a fee of 0.25% but without a waiver. Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, offers 0.20% for the first 12 months and $5 billion, with the fee rising to 0.30% thereafter. Meanwhile, Franklin Templeton offers 0.29%, Fidelity 0.39%, and Wisdomtree 0.5%.
Hashdex did not file an amendment on Monday morning. However, Seyffart pointed out that “they are different from the rest of the pack solely because they’re the only product on this list that is already operating as an ETF.” Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett added that Hashdex is “the only one trying to convert their existing BTC futures ETF to a spot product,” noting: “As a result, the timings of its filings may also be slightly different but this doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t get approved if and when the others do.”
Commenting on spot bitcoin ETF fees, Vaneck’s director of digital assets strategy, Gabor Gurbacs, detailed: “It costs less to hold a bitcoin ETF for a year than a single trade on Coinbase. (~40-60bps vs ~25bps for a retail size trade).” He added: “The profits will be so razor-thin (even at $ multi-billion AUM) that a flee can barely make a sandwich from it, precisely due to storage and execution costs as you said. In my opinion, this is long term not a great incentive structure.”
Moreover, all 10 applicants have named authorized participants (APs) for their spot bitcoin ETFs. “The firms acting as APs for these ETFs are Jane Street, Virtu, JP Morgan, ABN AMRO, Macquarie, Cantor Fitzgerald, and Marex Capital,” the Bloomberg analyst noted. In its fourth amended filing, Grayscale finally named some authorized participants. The asset manager said it has “engaged Jane Street Capital, LLC, Virtu Americas LLC, Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc., and ABN AMRO Clearing USA LLC as authorized participants.”
The SEC is expected to make a decision on spot bitcoin ETFs by Wednesday, which is the deadline for the joint proposal by Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest and 21shares. While some believe that the securities regulator could make an announcement before that date, Blackrock expects its Ishares Bitcoin Trust to be approved on Wednesday. The world’s largest asset manager has reportedly lined up more than $2 billion for its spot bitcoin ETF launch.
How many spot bitcoin ETFs do you think the SEC will approve this week? Let us know in the comments section below.