Key Takeaways
- Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust charges management fees of 15 basis points, compared to the 1.5% annual fee for the older Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
- GBTC will transfer a portion of its Bitcoin holdings to the Mini Trust, providing current GBTC shareholders with new shares in the Mini Trust.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light to Grayscale’s latest Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC). Approved on July 26, the new ETF will be listed on the New York Stock Exchangeโs (NYSE) Arca trading platform and is set to start trading next Wednesday.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust charges management fees of just 15 basis points, compared to the 1.5% annual fee for the older Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). This new fee structure is similar to that of the recently launched Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust, which also focuses on lower costs.
Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, announced that the SEC has approved the Bitcoin Mini Trust, which will trade under the ticker BTC. This new fund is essentially a spin-off of GBTC.
GBTC will transfer a portion of its Bitcoin holdings to the Mini Trust, providing current GBTC shareholders with new shares in the Mini Trust. This move ensures that shareholders will maintain their overall Bitcoin holdings, but now across two different funds.
The initial distribution of the Bitcoin Mini Trust shares is scheduled for Tuesday, July 30, 2024, with the distribution expected to happen the following day. Each GBTC shareholder will receive a one-for-one distribution of shares in the Mini Trust. On July 31, Grayscale will contribute 10% of the spot Bitcoin held by GBTC to the Mini Trust, ensuring proportional share distribution to GBTC shareholders.
Grayscaleโs spokesperson highlighted the importance of the next regulatory step: “Grayscale awaits the effectiveness of BTC’s registration statement on Form S-1. This approval will allow BTC to operate as a U.S. spot Bitcoin ETP alongside GBTC and others.”
This new development follows the SEC’s previous approvals of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, which have attracted significant investment. Earlier this year, Grayscale also received approval for both a spot Ethereum ETF and another spot Bitcoin ETF.
Commenting on the development, Grayscale stated โWe are thrilled that the SEC has approved NYSE Arca’s application to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust.โ This approval comes shortly after Grayscale announced plans to spin off a portion of its flagship Bitcoin fund, GBTC, into the new Mini Trust.