BlackRock, Ark Invest/21Shares, VanEck, WisdomTree, Invesco/Galaxy, Fidelity, Bitwise, and Valkyrie have all filed their most recent ETF fee schedules.
Leading US asset management firms, including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Ark Invest/21Shares, VanEck, WisdomTree, Invesco/Galaxy, Fidelity, Bitwise, Hashdex, and Valkyrie, have taken the final step in the Bitcoin spot ETF race by submitting an amended S-1 filing, which is the final step before approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The updated S-1 filing emphasized each organization’s management fees. BlackRock, VanEck, Ark Invest/21Shares, and Bitwise have all gained notice for their Bitcoin spot ETF costs, which are far lower than ETF experts’ expectations.
**The SEC filing “reveals” the following ETF management fees for each organization:
- BlackRock/iShares charges a fee of just 0.3%, which will be decreased to 0.2% in the first year or when the ETF hits $5 billion in assets.
- Franklin Templeton, which manages more than $1.3 trillion in assets, has declared a fixed charge of 0.29%.
- Ark Invest/21Shares has cut its cost from 0.8% to 0.25% to compete with BlackRock. It is even free for the first six months, until the ETF accumulates $1 billion in assets. When it comes to offering a fixed fee of 0.25%, VanEck and Ark Invest/21Shares are comparable.
- Bitwise, a crypto asset management service, has even given an incredibly appealing charge of 0.24% – the lowest cost currently available – which is free for the first six months, or until the ETF hits $1 billion in assets.
- WisdomTree charges a management fee of 0.5%, which is very costly when compared to the major rivals.
- Valkyrie, Fidelity, and Hashdex charge ETF fees of 0.8%, 0.39%, and 0.9%, respectively.
- Invesco/Galaxy charges an advertised fee of 0.59%. Free for the first six months, or until the ETF accumulates $5 billion in assets.
- Grayscale Investments, a cryptocurrency investment business, has also reduced its Bitcoin spot ETF management fee from 2% to 1.5% in the latest modified S-3 filing, which is a condensed version of the standard S-1 filing. Not only that, but the fund with $27 billion in assets has recruited Jane Street, Virtu, Macquarie Capital, and ABN AMRO Clearing as authorized participants (AP).
Eric Balchunas, a Bloomberg ETF analyst, commented:
“BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF cost is merely 0.30%, according to the recently submitted form. Much lower than I anticipated. Competitors will have a difficult time. ARK’s drop in costs from 0.8% to 0.25% in one fell swoop is incredible. The Bitcoin ETF fight is not straightforward.”
With the final documents provided, the SEC now has enough information to decide whether to approve the 19b-4 and S-1 files. If both of these events occur, trade might begin the next day.
These developments came after Grayscale, Ark Investments, Valkyrie, and VanEck submitted 8-A filings to the SEC a few days ago. Just before the year 2024 began, BlackRock, Fidelity, Valkyrie, WisdomTree, and Franklin Templeton scrambled to revise their Bitcoin ETF filings to meet the SEC deadline.
As a result, BlackRock has added Jane Street Capital and JP Morgan Securities LLC to the list of eligible clients to participate in its Bitcoin spot product; this action indicates that the day when the SEC approves the Bitcoin spot ETF is nearing.
Mr. Eric Balchunas projected in his most recent evaluation on January 6, 2024, that the SEC will approve the Bitcoin spot ETF at a rate of up to 95%, with just a 5% probability of rejection. This is up from the Bloomberg analyst’s earlier forecast of merely 90%.
Bitcoin’s price jumped marginally to $45,200 on the announcement that Wall Street titans simultaneously modified the Bitcoin spot ETF trading costs.