Bitcoin ETFs Line Up For Launch; Bitcoin Turns Volatile
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Hashdex Bitcoin ETF (DEFI) surged early Thursday, then pared gains. Meanwhile BlackRock and Fidelity led trading volume among the newly-listed spot bitcoin ETFs as of Thursday afternoon. It marked a historic day for the cryptocurrency industry after the Securities and Exchange Commission officially approved 11 spot bitcoin ETF applications late Wednesday. Bitcoin bolted as high as $49,000 Thursday morning before reversing its advance.
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Just ahead of Thursday’s close, the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) was down 6%. Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) and Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (BRRR) were off more than 5% apiece. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO), iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), Vaneck Bitcoin Trust ETF (HODL) and Wisdomtree Bitcoin ETF (BTCW) also lost ground during the day.
“BlackRock and Fidelity’s products appear to be the volume leaders among new issuers,” Andy Baehr, managing director at CoinDesk Indices told IBD. As of midday Thursday, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust had as much volume as the two combined.
Grayscale Investments received approval to convert its $28 billion bitcoin trust into a spot ETF. B Meanwhile, Hashdex, in coordination with Tidal Investments, was approved to convert its Hashdex Bitcoin Futures ETF into a spot bitcoin fund. Both trade under their previous tickers on the NYSE Arca.
Issuers ARK Invest (ARKK) and 21Shares, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, VanEck, WisdomTree, and Invesco and Galaxy Digital listed their six bitcoin ETFs on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. BlackRock‘s (BLK) iShares Bitcoin Trust and Valkyrie’s Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund traded on the Nasdaq. Bitwise joined Hashdex and Grayscale Investments on the NYSE Arca.
Bloomberg reported over $3.5 billion worth of shares traded between the 11 spot bitcoin ETFs as of 1 p.m. ET Thursday. GBTC led the ETFs with $1.7 billion in volume while IBIT saw over $880 million in volume, according to Bloomberg data.
“The approval was successful, the launches have been successful, the fee wars have got very active in the last couple of days,” Baehr said. “And investors have a really wide variety of options when it comes to picking up bitcoin in ETF form.”
The issuers disclosed their planned fees for the ETFs in their updated regulatory filings on Jan. 9 and 10, which range from 0.2% to 1.5% excluding waivers. The following table includes ticker, fee and exchange information for each of the bitcoin ETFs launching today.
| Proposed Bitcoin ETF fees as of Jan. 10 (Source: Bloomberg) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Ticker | Issuer | Fee (after waiver) | Waiver Details | Exchange |
| ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF | ARKB | ARK Invest & 21Shares | 0% (0.21%) | 6 months or $1 billion | CBOE |
| Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust | BITB | Bitwise | 0% (0.20%) | 6 months or $1 billion | NYSE |
| Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust | FBTC | Fidelity | 0% (0.25%) | Until July 31, 2024 | CBOE |
| Franklin Bitcoin ETF | EZBC | Franklin | 0.29% | n/a | CBOE |
| Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (conversion) | GBTC | Grayscale | 1.50% | n/a | NYSE |
| Hashdex Bitcoin ETF | DEFI | Hashdex | 0.90% | n/a | NYSE |
| Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF | BTCO | Invesco & Galaxy | 0% (0.39%) | 6 months or $5 billion | CBOE |
| iShares Bitcoin Trust | IBIT | BlackRock | 0.12% (0.25%) | 12 months or $5 billion | Nasdaq |
| Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund | BRRR | Valkyrie | 0% (0.49%) | 3 months | Nasdaq |
| VanEck Bitcoin Trust | HODL | VanEck | 0.25% | n/a | CBOE |
| WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust | BTCW | WisdomTree | 0% (0.3%) | 6 months or $1 billion | CBOE |
Elsewhere, Charles Schwab (SCHW) announced early Thursday that ETFs were available on its platform, a public relations rep told IBD. However, some brokers including Vanguard and Merrill Lynch have opted against offering bitcoin ETFs, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Bitcoin ETF Price Action
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) closed a fraction higher Thursday after an early jump. GBTC gained 3.8% Wednesday after the SEC announcement.
Hashdex’s Bitcoin ETF (DEFI) rose 1.5% Thursday. DEFI stock is trading above a profit-taking zone after a late October breakout.
Bitcoin fell below $46,500 Thursday after vaulting to $49,000 – its highest price since December 2021. Bitcoin traded around $45,700 Wednesday afternoon shortly after the SEC announcement. The reverse lower is unsurprising as some experts such as ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood expect some profit-taking on the ETF news.
“I would chalk up any market activity that’s happening today to the machinery of ETF production doing its thing, and making sure that these billions of dollars of new ETFs are properly hedged and traded,” Baehr said.
Crypto-related stocks fell Thursday as bitcoin reversed lower after early morning jumps. Exchange Coinbase (COIN) fell 6.7% Thursday after spiking 4.3% premarket. Meanwhile, bitcoin miner Marathon Digital (MARA) tumbled 12.6% to erase its 6.3% rally in the morning.
However, it should be a short-term decline. “All we need is for the trillions of dollars in institutional assets out there to allocate maybe 0.1% or 0.2% to an ETF. And that will move the price significantly,” Wood said in a Dec. 26 interview with Yahoo Finance.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison
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