BlackRock has established a fee of 0.25% for its upcoming spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF), as outlined in its S-1 registration statement filed on July 17. The fee will accrue daily at an annualized rate based on the fund’s net asset value and will be payable at least every three months in US dollars, in-kind, or a combination of both.
The firm has indicated its ability to waive all or part of the fee during certain periods, particularly at the fund’s launch. Similar to the iShares Bitcoin Trust, BlackRock’s spot Ether ETF will initially charge a reduced fee of 0.12% until either 12 months have elapsed or the fund reaches $2.5 billion in net assets, whichever comes first.
Other firms have also detailed their proposed fees and waiver policies amidst numerous amended S-1 registration filings. The Franklin Templeton-issued spot Ether ETF will charge the lowest fee at 0.19%, while the Bitwise Ethereum ETF and VanEck Ethereum ETFs are set at 0.20%. The 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF will have a fee of 0.21%, and both Fidelity and Invesco Galaxy will match BlackRock’s fee of 0.25%.
Five Issuers to Waive Fees at ETF Launch
Bitwise, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, 21Shares, and VanEck have all proposed initial fee waivers for their respective ETF launches:
- VanEck plans to waive its fee for the first 12 months or until it reaches $1.5 billion in net assets.
- Bitwise intends to waive fees for the initial six months or until it amasses $0.5 billion in net assets.
- Franklin Templeton has set a waiver period until January 31, 2025, or until it reaches $10 billion in assets.
- Fidelity will waive fees until January 1, 2025, after which they will increase to 0.25%.
- Grayscale, however, maintains a 2.5% fee for its spot Ether ETF, while its newly approved Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust will offer a competitive fee of 0.25%.
Grayscale has allocated 10% of its spot Ethereum ETF to seed funding for the Ethereum Mini Trust, amounting to $1 billion.
Reports indicate that three ETF issuers — BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and VanEck — have received “preliminary approval” from the United States securities regulator.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas anticipates that the S-1 filings will be finalized next Monday after trading hours, paving the way for the official trading launch of spot Ether ETFs on Tuesday, July 23.
Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s chief investment officer, speculates that the spot Ether ETFs could attract approximately $15 billion in inflows within the first 18 months of trading, a figure comparable to the initial performance of spot Bitcoin ETFs over six months.
Pending approval, these spot Ether ETFs are expected to be listed on major exchanges such as Nasdaq, New York Stock Exchange, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.