Bitcoin ETF fee war continues as Franklin Templeton undercuts Bitwise

Financial services giant undercuts previous low mark set by Bitwise a day after first spot BTC funds launch in the US

January 12, 2024 10:23 am

Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson | Cole Burston/Fortune/"Fortune Global Forum 2023″ (CC license)

Bitwise had the lowest spot bitcoin ETF fee yesterday.

Franklin Templeton now appears to have that claim — at least for the moment.

The financial services giant revealed a fee of 0.19% for its Franklin Bitcoin ETF, undercutting Bitwise’s previous low mark of 0.20%. The firm had previously put the price point for its fund at 0.29%.

Franklin Templeton is also set to waive the fund fee — like Bitwise and some other rivals — until Aug. 2, up to $10 billion in fund assets, the Friday disclosure states.

Read more: Bitcoin ETF Tracker

Ten US spot bitcoin ETFs launched Thursday a day after the US Securities and Exchange Commission cleared such funds to start trading for the first time.

The Franklin Templeton fund saw trading volumes of roughly 2.4 million shares, or about $65 million, on its first day trading. The volumes trailed those seen by similar offerings by Grayscale, BlackRock and Fidelity.

“We’re excited and encouraged by the strong investor interest we’re seeing for spot bitcoin ETFs,” David Mann, Franklin Templeton’s head of ETF product and capital markets told Blockworks in an email. “We think this sends a clear signal to investors: We’re here for the long run.”

A spokesperson declined to comment further.

The latest fee change comes as fund issuers had jockeyed for position in the weeks before launch, spurring fee compression seen as a win for investors.

A majority of the firms placed their spot bitcoin ETF fees at or below 0.30% on launch day Thursday, with BlackRock and Ark Invest dropping fees as late as approval day on Wednesday.

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