What a great start to the year! After years of waiting, the spot Bitcoin ETF was finally approved in the US! On Jan 10th, 2024, the SEC finally approved eleven spot Bitcoin ETF applications from prominent asset managers, including BlackRock, Invesco, ARK, Fidelity, etc.
What’s Available?
With the Bitcoin ETF approval, investors can buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin just like they buy/sell stocks. Investors can use their stock brokers with access to the US stock market to buy and sell Bitcoin. You no longer have to know how to self-custody your wallet.
Let us see the available ETFs:
| Name | Ticker | Issuer | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grayscale Bitcoin Trust | GBTC | Grayscale | 1.50% |
| ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF | ARKB | 21Shares & ARK | 0.21%
(0.0% for 6 months or reached $1 billion) |
| iShares Bitcoin Trust | IBIT | BlackRock | 0.25%
(0.12% for 12 months or reached $5 billion) |
| Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust | BITB | Bitwise | 0.20%
(0.0% for 6 months or reached $1 billion) |
| VanEck Bitcoin Trust | HODL | VanEck | 0.25% |
| Wisdomtree Bitcoin Trust | BTCW | Wisdomtree | 0.30%
(0.0% for 6 months) |
| Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF | BTCO | Invesco & Galaxy | 0.39%
(0.0% for 6 months or reached $5 billion) |
| Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust | FBTC | Fidelity | 0.25%
(0.0% until July 31st, 2024) |
| Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund | BRRR | Valkyrie | 0.49%
(0.0% for 3 months) |
| Hashdex Bitcoin ETF | DEFI | Hashdex | 0.90% |
| Franklin Bitcoin ETF | EZBC | Franklin | 0.29% |
The table above shows the ticker symbol and the fees charged by the asset managers. When choosing an ETF, we generally look for a combination of low fees, high liquidity, and reputable asset managers.
In our opinion, most of these ETFs have pretty competitive fees, with Bitwise charging as low as 0.2%. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust and Hashdex Bitcoin ETF are not competitive with their exorbitant fees. The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, also charges a competitive fee of 0.25%.
So, are you interested in investing in Bitcoin ETF? Which ETF will you choose?
What’s Next?
Bitcoin ETFs provide investors an easy, low-cost, low-maintenance way to invest in Bitcoin. Although the digital asset industry has grown massively in the past several years, the introduction of these ETFs will reach even more people, especially the more conservative population who was previously discouraged by the complexity of wallet custody and the unregulated crypto world.
It is still early for Bitcoin ETFs, but over time, regulatory clarity from ETF approvals may open the door for institutional investors to incorporate Bitcoin into their portfolios.
With the Bitcoin ETF approval behind us, the market has now set its sights on other ETF approvals, such as the spot Ethereum ETF. What do you think? Will the SEC approve the spot ETF for the second-largest digital asset in the world?
Despite all the excitement around the ETF approval, we want to remind investors that cryptocurrencies are volatile assets that may pose capital risks. For those in Singapore, MAS has reiterated that Bitcoin ETF is not suitable for retail investors. Cryptocurrencies should only be reserved for investors with the highest risk profile. Please exercise prudence when investing 🙂
