Blackrock to charge 0.2% for first $5B, Ark to waive fee for for first $1B in assets into ETF

Major institutions in the race for the first spot, Bitcoin ETF, have updated their S1 filings with the SEC within minutes of each other today, Jan. 8.

Blackrock, Ark, WisdomTree, and Invesco Galaxy all submitted updated documents around 11 am GMT as the final stages of the potential approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States is underway.

Ark has slashed their fee to 0.25% from 0.8% while also waiving any fee for the first six months or $1B as competition hots up among potential spot Bitcoin ETF issuers.

“The Trust will pay the unitary Sponsor Fee of 0.25% of the Trust’s bitcoin holdings. The Sponsor Fee is paid by the Trust to the Sponsor as compensation for services performed under the Trust Agreement. The Sponsor intends to waive the entire Sponsor Fee for (i) a six month period commencing on the day the Trust’s Shares are initially listed on the Exchange, or (ii) the first $1 billion of Trust assets, whichever occurs first.”

The Blackrock ETF plans a low 0.3% fee, according to the latest filing, making now the second lowest of the known fees at this time. Further, for the first twelve months and $5 billion in funds, it will offer a 0.2% fee as a promotional tool.

“For a twelve-month period commencing on the day the Shares are initially listed on NASDAQ, the Sponsor will waive a portion of the Sponsor’s Fee so that the Sponsor’s Fee after the fee waiver will be equal to 0.20% of the net asset value of the Trust for the first $5.0 billion of the Trust’s assets.”

Notably, this 0.2% promotional fee is the lowest fee among all applicants. However, as this is only a promotional offer, Ark and VanEck are currently the lowest, both at 0.25% after both filing today.

Blackrock has also revealed that “as of January 5, 2024, the date the Seed Capital Investor purchased the Seed Creation Baskets, the net asset value of the Trust was $9,980,032.71, and the NAV was $24.95.”

The Invesco Galaxy ETF will trade under the ticker BTCO, and the filing states that it has seeded around $4.8 million in Bitcoin to date. The fees will be 0.59%.

“Accordingly, as of the market close on January 4, 2024, the Trust had total assets of $4,857,935.50, solely represented by bitcoin held in custody by the Bitcoin Custodian, and had 110,000 Shares outstanding, entirely held by the Sponsor.”

WisdomTree’s ETF will have fees of 0.5% and has seeded $2.5 million.

“WisdomTree, Inc., the parent of the Sponsor (the “Seed Capital Investor”) purchased: (i) $50,000 in Shares at a price per Share of $50 on December 22, 2023, and (ii) $2,450,000 in Shares at a price per Share of $50 on January 8, 2024, for a total of $2,500,000, resulting in total ownership of 50,000 Shares.”

Update: Added Ark fees.

Update: Added Invesco and Wisdom tree fees.

Update: Added VanEck fees.