VanEck has slashed its fees for the HODL exchange-traded fund (ETF), the VanEck Bitcoin Trust down to 0.20% from 0.25% according to a recent filing submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Nearly a dozen Bitcoin ETFs are competing for investor attention in a saturated market. BlackRock has set its fee for the iShares ETF at 0.12% for the first 12 months or until the first $5 billion in assets under management, after which it plans to increase it to 0.25%.
Other issuers, such as ARK Invest, charge 0.21%, and Bitwise charges 0.20%. Spot Bitcoin ETFs are increasingly the go-to choice for mainstream investors. They address issues like storing crypto assets and dealing with fraudulent service providers.
Aurelie Barthere, Principal Research Analyst at Nansen, said in a recent interview with Cryptonews.com that she expects lower-fee ETFs to attract more inflows in the short term.
The competitive landscape among Bitcoin spot ETF providers, according to Barthere, will be shaped by factors like reputation, size, existing footprint, and management fees.
“Reputation/size/existing footprint + management fee will probably lead to some leaders dominating the market,” she predicted.
BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF
Data published on February 13 revealed that BlackRock’s IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF had amassed over 100,000 bitcoins, positioning the firm as a clear leader in the closely contested sector. According to official data shared by the asset manager, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) holds an astronomical 105,280.3 BTC in its portfolio.
The bitcoin haul is worth over $5.4 billion in market valuations. The IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF also includes a minor fiat component totaling $80,698.75. Zooming in on the number of shares, the ETF currently has over 167.24 million outstanding shares locked in.
Spot Ethereum ETFs
On Monday, investment firm Franklin Templeton submitted a spot EthereumETF application with the SEC. Coinbase Custody will be the Ether custodian and Bank of New York Mellon the cash custodian, administrator, and transfer agent for the Franklin Templeton Spot Ethereum ETF.
Franklin Templeton joins a long list of asset managers such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, VanEck, Invesco and Galaxy, as well as Cathy Wood’s Ark Invests and 21Shares, all have submitted applications for a spot Ethereum ETF.
Bull Market
On Friday, Bitcoin’s recent price surge past $52,000 sparked speculation about a pre-halving rally, a historical trend associated with the upcoming reduction in mining rewards, as reported by Jai Pratap from Cryptonews.
Analyst Jag Kooner, Head of Derivatives at Bitfinex, believes the current market movement aligns with such a rally, typically starting eight weeks before the halving event.
“This rally has the potential to push prices beyond previous cycle highs,” Kooner said in a statement shared with Cryptonews, citing the recent return of Bitcoin’s trillion-dollar market cap and consistent inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs as contributing factors.