Asset management giant BlackRock has announced a 0.25% fee for its upcoming spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is expected to launch next week.
BlackRock has also indicated that it may waive all or part of the fee for certain periods, with plans to implement such a waiver upon the ETF's launch. Similar to the launch of the iShares Bitcoin Trust, the spot Ether ETF will initially trade at a reduced fee of 0.12% until it either reaches 12 months in operation or amasses $2.5 billion in net assets, whichever comes first.
Other asset managers have also disclosed their proposed fees and waiver periods amid a surge of amended S-1 registration forms. Franklin Templeton’s spot Ether ETF will charge the lowest fee at 0.19%, while Bitwise and VanEck have set their fees at 0.20%. The 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF will charge 0.21%, and Fidelity and Invesco Galaxy will match BlackRock's fee of 0.25%.
Notably, five issuers, Bitwise, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, 21Shares, and VanEck, plan to waive their fees initially. VanEck's fee will be waived for the first 12 months or until it reaches $1.5 billion in net assets, whichever comes first. Bitwise will waive its fee for the first six months or until it accumulates $0.5 billion in net assets. Franklin Templeton has set a waiver period until January 31, 2025, or until it reaches a $10 billion threshold. Fidelity will waive fees until January 1, 2025, after which the fee will increase to 0.25%.
Meanwhile, Grayscale has set a fee of 2.5% for its spot Ether ETF. However, its newly approved Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust will offer a more competitive fee of 0.25%. Grayscale also announced that 10% of its spot Ethereum ETF will establish the Ethereum Mini Trust, providing $1 billion in seed funding.