Grayscale, a leading provider of Bitcoin ETFs, has announced details of its new subsidiary fund, Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC). According to the latest filing, the fund stands out with a competitive fee of 0.15%, which is significantly lower than the 1.5% fee charged by its parent product, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
It was also announced in the application that Grayscale will contribute 63,204 Bitcoins to the mini fund, which is equivalent to 10% of the current assets in GBTC. Shares of the BTC trust will be automatically issued and distributed to GBTC shareholders.
According to the official statement, Bitcoin Mini Trust is designed to offer GBTC investors a more affordable option and align more competitively with other Bitcoin ETFs approved earlier this year. Importantly, the spin-off is considered a non-taxable event for GBTC's existing shareholders, meaning they won't have to pay capital gains tax to transfer to the new fund.
Launched via a private placement more than a decade ago, GBTC began trading publicly on an over-the-counter basis in mid-2015. This continued until January 2024, when GBTC began trading as a spot Bitcoin ETF on NYSE Arca.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas commented on the development: “Wow, GBTC's mini Bitcoin Spot ETF will have a 15 bps fee, meaning Grayscale will have the cheapest BTC ETF on the market. So this is an estimated financial statement and hypothetical. This does not mean that BTC will be 15 bps. But the good news is they had to pick a number for it and they knew people would watch so they settled on 15bps.”
*This is not investment advice.
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