Spot Bitcoin ETF Expectation is at Fever Pitch With Fee War and Gensler Tweet

A tweet from the U.S. securities regulator warning investors about buying crypto is further fueling speculation the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund is about to be approved while a fee war breaks out among applicants.

Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, posted on X a short thread for investors interested in crypto “to keep in mind” as the deadline for the Commission to respond to ETF applicants expired at 8:00am ET today.

The head of the SEC issued three warnings: Some cryptocurrency investment projects might not be complying with U.S. securities laws, that investments in this asset class can be exceptionally risky, and that “fraudsters continue to exploit the rising popularity of crypto assets to lure retail investors into scams.”

Fee War

The tweet comes as a fee war broke out this morning as applicants filed their amended S-1 forms. BlackRock, Bitwise, Ark Invest/21Shares, VanEck, WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Fidelity and Valkyrie announced reduced fees for their spot Bitcoin ETF instruments.

According to senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, Eric Balchunas, while the fee war was expected, the figures were lower than what he foresaw.

“Damn, the fee for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF will be 0.30% as per their just filed S-1,” wrote Balchunas. “This is much cheaper than I predicted. Life just got a LOT tougher for everyone else. The ETF Terrordome is no joke.”

Balchunas also added “ARK going from 80 bps to 25 bps in one shot is breathtaking. The fee wars are intense but that’s another level.”

Ark Invest, Bitwise, and Invesco Galaxy revealed they are waiving all fees for the first six months or until volumes reach $1 billion for the first two funds and $5 billion for Invesco Galaxy.

Once the fee is waived, Bitwise showcases the lowest fees for its investors, charging 0.24%. It is followed closely by Van Eck at 0.25%.

Likely the most sought out spot Bitcoin ETF provider, BlackRock, has unveiled a 0.20% fee for the first twelve months or until its iShares Bitcoin Trust attains $5 billion in volume.

Notably, Grayscale did not get involved in the bidding war, dropping their fees from 2% to 1.5% only. Hashdex was the sole ETF applicant that did not amend their forms ahead of the SEC deadline today.