Bitcoin started the week positively, increasing 6.2% over the past 24 hours to reach $47,081 at publication time, according to CoinGecko. The regained momentum means that the ascendant crypto has erased losses sustained in last week’s sudden flash crash as anticipation for the decision from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) reaches fever pitch.
Applicants filed their final S-1 form amendments with the SEC Monday, just two days before the regulator is expected to approve one or more ETFs. Among the amendments, the potential issuers have disclosed competitive fees for their products.
Fee War Takes Off In Spot Bitcoin ETF Race
As the crypto community awaits the SEC’s simultaneous approval of spot Bitcoin ETF applications currently in its pipeline, would-be registrants have detailed the fees they plan to charge on the proposed funds.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, set its fee at 20 basis points for the first 12 months, or until the ETF hits $5 billion in assets, after which it will hike to 30bps.
The lowest sponsor fee for current ETF applications is from Bitwise as it intends to waive its fee entirely for the first six months and the first $1 billion in assets. Thereafter, a fee of 0.24% will apply. Fidelity set its fee at 0.39% and Invesco and Galaxy at 0.59%, while VanEck chose 0.25%. Last week, VanEck pledged to donate 5% of its potential ETF profits to Bitcoin core developers at Bitcoin Brink.
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest lowered its fee from the previously announced 0.80% to 0.25%, a move that Bloomberg Intelligence’s ETF senior analyst Eric Balchunas called “breathtaking”.
Grayscale, which wants to transform its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an ETF, opted for a 1.5% fee — which is the most expensive of the pack.
The launch of a spot BTC ETF for U.S. customers is a long-held ambition of Bitcoin enthusiasts, who deem it as the harbinger for mass institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies. The investment vehicle would track the price of BTC while allowing investors to access exposure to the crypto without having to buy or store it themselves — making it one of the most-watched catalysts in Bitcoin’s history.
Applicants rushed to submit their updated S-1 forms on Jan.8 before the SEC’s final deadline expired, on the heels of Friday’s filing of their revised 19b-4 forms.
Bitcoin ETFs Now Have 95% Chance Of Approval This Month
Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas has raised the odds of a spot Bitcoin ETF being approved in the U.S. in January to 95%, as the SEC decision looms this week.
Balchunas said in a post on the X (previously known as Twitter) platform on Saturday that he would “probably go with 5% at this point”, referring to the possibility of the SEC denying the over a dozen pending spot Bitcoin ETF applications.
That’s an increase from Bloomberg Intelligence’s previous analysis that tipped the approval odds for a spot ETF at 90%.