Spot Bitcoin ETF issuers file amended S-1 applications — Now await SEC approval

Multiple applicants for a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) have been rushing to file their final Form S-1 amendments to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, Jan. 8, as expected.

Asset manager Valkyrie was among the first companies to file its final S-1 amendment before Jan. 10, the widely expected date for the first spot Bitcoin ETFs to be approved in the United States.

Valkyrie was followed by WisdomTree, BlackRock, VanEck, Invesco and Galaxy, Grayscale (S-3 filing), ARK Invest and 21Shares, Fidelity, Bitwise and Franklin Templeton.

The new filings open a potentially historic week for Bitcoin as the hopeful issuers are expected to finalize their Form S-1 amendments today. The S-1 amendments include information about fees or identities of the market makers for the potential ETFs.

Some filers have significantly cut fees for trading the potential spot Bitcoin ETF products. According to the latest S-1 from ARK and 21Shares, the ETF sponsor will waive its 0.25% fee during a six-month period from the day of listing for the first $1 billion in assets under management (AUM).

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF will charge 0.3% after an initial 0.2% fee for the first 12 months or $5 billion in AUM.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the ongoing fee war between possible spot Bitcoin ETFs will unlikely change much in terms of competition at this point.

“Historically this hasn’t moved the needle much. Advisors focused on regular fees since they are long term investors. That said, given all these ETFs all do the same thing, maybe it will matter all else equal, we’ll see,” Balchunas wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Apart from the fees, some filers like BlackRock also included information about seeding spot Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock stated that the trust purchased 227.9 BTC with the proceeds of the seed creation baskets on Jan. 5. 2024, for $10 million. “As of the date of this prospectus, these 400,000 Shares represent all of the outstanding Shares,” the firm said in its S-1 registration statement.

ARK and 21Shares plan to purchase the initial seed creation baskets of $437,000 “on or about” Jan. 8, the S-1 statement said. The trust will use the amount to acquire Bitcoin “at or prior” to listing shares on the Cboe BZX Exchange.

Unlike S-1 filers, Grayscale Investments submitted an updated S-3 form registration statement, setting a 1.5% spot Bitcoin ETF fee. The firm mentioned Jane Street, Virtu, Flow Traders and Flowdesk as designated liquidity providers. Grayscale also listed Jane Street, Virtu, Macquarie and ABN Amro as authorized participants.

At the time of writing, 10 potential issuers have filed updated S-1s, meaning that these firms are “in theory” ready to become the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, according to Fox Business’ Eleanor Terrett. Hashdex could still join the first wave of ETFs if it submits a last-minute filing today, Terrett noted.

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