BlackRock, Fidelity Lead Billions in Spot Bitcoin ETF Race

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a number of spot Bitcoin ETFs, but funds from two specific issuers far outnumbered the others, while Grayscale’s GBTC lost money after it saw large redemptions.

BlackRock’s and Fidelity’s spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs received $1.9 billion and $1.6 billion in inflows, respectively. They are the leading issuers among the 10 asset managers approved by the SEC for listing.

Crypto firm Bitwise and Cathie Wood-backed ARK 21Shares followed these two frontrunners, which each recorded more than $500 million in inflows.

Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounted for 70 percent of all spot BTC exchange-traded inflows, according to Jan. 24 Bloomberg data.Litecoin DOGE Miner

BlackRock and Fidelity’s ETFs are also among two ETFs that have quickly achieved over $1 billion in assets under management (AUM), likely due to their presence on Wall Street as one of the world’s largest financial firms.

Meanwhile, less than two weeks after SEC approval, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has lost almost $4 billion.Grayscale’s offering remains the largest spot BTC ETF on the market, with a market capitalization of more than $20 billion, and Coinbase hosts more than 500,000 bitcoins.

Since it began trading the spot ETF on Jan. 11, Grayscale has sent about 93,700 bitcoins worth about $3.9 billion to the Coinbase Prime wallet, according to blockchain analytics provider LookOnChain.

The massive outflow appears to have triggered selling pressure on BTC as tokens were liquidated to meet redemption demand.Bitmain Miner

Grayscale’s 1.5% ETF fee is the highest of any issuer, raising questions and scrutiny. This is the highest fee that issuers charge for these spot BTC ETFs, but Grayscale’s CEO Michael Sonnenshein has been criticized for supporting the company’s decision to slightly lower the previous 2% fee.

Sonnenshein said his company’s ETF is the largest, most liquid and oldest spot BTC ETF on the market. the executive added that other issuers, being new to the market, have issued fees as low as 0.21% in order to attract investors in a competitive market.