According to CryptoPotato, Grayscale, the world's largest asset manager, is striving to maintain its dominance in the spot Bitcoin ETF market. This comes after a significant capital withdrawal from its primary GBTC product. To compete with its ten competitors, Grayscale has proposed a smaller Bitcoin ETF with highly competitive fees. Grayscale's new ETF, the Bitcoin Mini Trust, has set fees at a mere 0.15%, according to its recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
On April 21, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas responded to the news, stating that Grayscale's mini-BTC would have a fee of 15bps, potentially making it the most affordable BTC ETF on the market. However, he clarified that this is still hypothetical and does not guarantee a fund fee of 15bps. The existing Grayscale Bitcoin Trust charges a 1.5% fee, which is one of the reasons it has lost a significant portion of its assets under management compared to lower-fee competitor funds.
The Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) is currently the closest competitor to the new fund, with fees at 0.19%. When the Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) is launched, the company will transfer 10% of the GBTC assets to the new fund, according to the filing. This could amount to approximately 30,500 BTC, worth around $2 billion. However, if GBTC continues to experience steady outflows until the mini-BTC fund is launched, this figure is likely to be lower.
Shares of the new fund will be automatically issued and distributed to GBTC shareholders. Since converting to a spot ETF in mid-January, GBTC has lost over 50% of its BTC holdings. The fund currently holds 304,970 BTC following a $45.8 million outflow on Friday. Last week, Grayscale lost $458 million, although the outflows began to slow towards the end of the week.
On April 19, Nate Geraci, President of ETF Store, stated that the consensus among industry analysts was that spot ETH ETFs would likely be disapproved by the SEC in late May due to lack of engagement.
