Grayscale CEO's warning: Only two or three Bitcoin ETFs will survive
Bitcoin ETF fee war won't save funds from being pulled from the market, Grayscale CEO says.
Most Bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will not survive, Grayscale Investment CEO Michael Sonnenshein said.
In a January 18 interview with CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Sonnenshein predicted that the majority of the 11 approved spot Bitcoin ETFs would likely fail.
The US SEC officially approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10, with 10 starting trading the following day . Many ETF issuers are actively lowering their trading fees to increase competitiveness with other ETF sponsors, with most approved ETFs charging fees between 0.2% and 0.4% . Some Bitcoin ETF providers also offer temporary fee waivers.
On the other hand, Grayscale – the largest Bitcoin holder among spot Bitcoin ETF issuers – charges as much as 1.5% without any relief.
Sonnenshein defended Grayscale's fees for spot Bitcoin ETF products, which are the highest on the market, by stating that only two or three spot Bitcoin ETFs will survive, and the rest will be withdrawn from the market:
“I think from our perspective, sometimes their long-term commitment to the asset class may be questionable [...] I don't think that the market will ultimately have the 11 spot products that we have.”
Sonnenshein's statement came on the fifth day of Bitcoin ETF spot trading in the United States. Since the launch of trading, Grayscale has been the only issuer to aggressively dump Bitcoin, offloading a total of 37,947 BTC on January 18. In contrast, nine other publishers have added at least 40,000 BTC to their products since the start of trading.
