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Author: Ben Strack Source: blockworks Translation: Shan Oppa, Bitchain Vision
The cost war is about to break out.Ark Investment temporarily gave up its cooperation with 21Shares to enter the spot Ethereum ETF market.A batch of new revised spot Ethereum ETF applications have been submitted, and there is expected to be at least one round of submissions before the product is officially launched.
The latest documents show that another fee war could occur in the future, and reveal that an issuer has decided to focus more on Bitcoin.
Although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the 19b-4 proposals filed by Cboe, NYSE Arca and Nasdaq on May 23 to list the funds, regulators are now in the final step – completing the S-1 registration statementapproval work.
On Wednesday, BlackRock disclosed $10 million in start-up funds and authorized participants from its fund.However, as more applications pour in on Friday night, one of the important information isThe fee for the Franklin Templeton Ethereum Fund Program is set at 0.19%.
The company, which manages $1.6 trillion assets, took the lead in disclosing its proposed expenses, laying the foundation for the expected expense war, similar to the January fee war between Bitcoin ETF issuers.
Franklin Templeton became the cheapest Bitcoin ETF by reducing the price of these funds in January.ETF Store President Nate Geraci said he expects the cost war for spot Ethereum ETFs to be as fierce and cruel as the cost war around BTC funds, and the two battlefields are closely linked.
“Fee competition in one category may affect the other category because ultimately investors will expect the pricing of the two to be similar,” Geraci told Blockworks.
Sumit Roy, senior analyst at ETF.com, said the fee relief could work again, with the permanent expense rate likely to be as low as 0.15%.“The 0.19% fee is already very low, but I won’t be surprised to see a lower fee sometime in the future,” Roy said.
Another major discovery of the document is that the name of Ark Investment is not mentioned.The company focused on disruptive innovations in January launched a Bitcoin ETF with 21 Shares.Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) manages approximately $3.2 billion in assets.
A spokesperson for 21Shares confirmed that the fund will continue to try to launch the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF without Ark Investment as a partner.The representative noted that the two companies remained “partners” of ARKB and a range of futures-based products.
A spokesperson for Ark Investment told Blockworks via email that the company believes Bitcoin is a “public product that everyone should be able to access at low cost.”
“As for Ethereum, Ark Investment believes in its potential for change and the long-term value of the Ethereum blockchain, but for the moment, Ark Investment will not advance the Ethereum ETF,” the representative added.“We will continue to evaluate the efficient way to provide our investors with access to this innovative technology to the fullest.”
One of the benefits missing in the currently planned spot Ethereum ETF is the gains obtained through staking, which refers to the process of depositing ETH to help protect the Ethereum blockchain.
The efforts of all issuers to submit revised S-1 by last weekend indicate that the funds are being launched as planned.
A person familiar with the documents told Blockworks that the SEC has provided “informal guidance” to issuers and will comment on their S-1 revision by this weekend.
