On January 10th, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission finally approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This means you are now able to get exposure to Bitcoin (and likely other Cryptocurrencies in the future) in your traditional accounts, such as Fidelity, Ameritrade, Etrade, Robinhood, etc. The lone exception here is Vanguard, who has bizarrely not allowed their customers to purchase the Bitcoin ETFs.
As a result, those who don’t want to deal with opening another account to buy crypto on an exchange such as Coinbase, you now have an option to get Bitcoin exposure without the hassle! Below, we will run through the Bitcoin ETF options to help you before making a decision on which ETF to purchase.
There are two different types of Bitcoin ETFs: spot and futures.
- a spot Bitcoin ETF holds actual Bitcoin inside of the fund, and as such is physically backed by Bitcoin as its underlying asset. Unlike owning and storing Bitcoin yourself, these funds trade on the traditional stock market exchanges and is limited to stock market hours, unlike Bitcoin that never stops trading. These ETFs track the actual price of Bitcoin.
- a futures Bitcoin ETF, on the other hand, invests in futures contracts instead of holding physical Bitcoin. In other words, a futures contract speculates on the future price of Bitcoin. Due to their contract nature, these contracts expire (on the last Friday of the month to be exact) and new contracts are added to the funds. As such, the performance will not track the price of Bitcoin and could severely underperform Bitcoin over time due to the volatility during the contracts. These are meant to be short-term trading vehicles, not long-term investments.
BTC Spot ETF options (USA)
| Name | Symbol | Fees | Description/important information |
| ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF | ARKB | .21% | – Background in crypto since 2015 – partners with Coinbase for Bitcoin custody |
| Bitwise Bitcoin ETF | BITB | .20% | – Dedicated crypto team, track record of managing crypto. – Posts their Bitcoin addresses for transparent proof of funds – partners with Coinbase for Bitcoin custody |
| Blackrock iShares Bitcoin Trust | IBIT | .25% | – Biggest asset manager in the world – partners with Coinbase for Bitcoin custody |
| Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund | FBTC | .25% | – First rolled out crypto services in 2021, but claims to have been an innovator in crypto since 2014 – provides their own Bitcoin custody services |
| Franklin Templeton Bitcoin Fund | EZBC | .19% | – partners with Coinbase for Bitcoin custody |
| Grayscale Bitcoin Trust | GBTC | 1.50% | – Initially launched in 2013 as the only traditional investment vehicle – by far the most expensive ETF of the bunch, and this is because the early investors have big gains and don’t want to realize a taxable event by selling so Grayscale keeps their fee high – longest operational history as the first publicly-traded Bitcoin fund – world’s largest Bitcoin ETF as of February 2024 – partners with Coinbase for Bitcoin custody |
| Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust | BTC | .15% | – Launched as a partial spin-off in July 2024 as a low-cost alternative to their initial Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which has much higher fees than the other Bitcoin ETFs – partners with Coinbase for Bitcoin custody – lowest cost Bitcoin ETF on the market |
| Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF | BTCO | .25% | – Claims to have a different structure that potentially offers enhanced trading efficiency and liquidity – history of innovative ETFs – partners with Coinbase for Bitcoin custody |
| Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund | BRRR | .25% | – +1 point for the creative ticker, and nod to the government’s constant printing of fiat dollars – digital asset-focused investment company – partners with Coinbase for Bitcoin custody |
| VanEck Bitcoin Trust | HODL | .25% | – +1 point for another fun ticker, as HODL became popular due to a typo in a 2013 post in a crypto forum when Bitcoin was crashing, and the comment stated they were “hodling.” – dedicated crypto-related product experience – partners with Gemini for Bitcoin custody |
| WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund | BTCW | .25% | – partners with Coinbase for Bitcoin custody |
BTC Futures ETF options (USA)
| Name | Symbol | Fee | Description/important information |
| Bitwise Bitcoin & Ether Equal Weight Strategy | BTOP | .90% | – Invests in BTC & ETH futures contracts equally – reduced fee of .85% until October 2025 |
| Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy Optimum Roll ETF | BITC | .92% | – Invests in Bitcoin futures contracts – reduced fee of .85 until February 2025 |
| Global X Blockchain & Bitcoin Strategy | BITS | .65% | – Invests in Bitcoin futures contracts – also holds a position of the Global X Blockchain ETF |
| Hashdex Bitcoin ETF | DEFI | .90% | – currently invests primarily in futures contracts – at a later date, the fund will be changing its name and investment strategy to include spot Bitcoin |
| ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Equal Weight Strategy ETF | BETE | 1.33% | – invests in BTC and ETH futures contracts and targets equal weighted performance of BTC & ETH |
| ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight Strategy ETF | BETH | 1.33% | – invests in BTC and ETH futures contracts and targets market cap weighted performance of BTC & ETH |
| ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF | BITO | .95% | – invests only in BTC futures contracts |
| Valkyrie Bitcoin & Ether Strategy ETF | BTF | 1.24% | – Invests primarily in BTC & ETH futures contracts |
| Valkyrie Bitcoin Futures Leveraged Strategy ETF | BTFX | 1.85% | Invests in Bitcoin futures and seeks to achieve 2x the daily performance of the Index |
FAQs
- How do I pick which one to buy?
- Things to consider are the fees, a company’s history in cryptocurrency, relationships with crypto companies that can be levered for best execution pricing
- Is there an Ethereum spot ETF?
- Yes, as of July 2024. See our ETH ETF write up.
- Are the ETFs safe?
- A lot of these funds depend on Coinbase to custody their spot ETF Bitcoin. While Coinbase has a strong history in crypto, if something were to happen to Coinbase and they had financial trouble due to cyber security or business failures, it could take some time to recover your investment.
Summary
A Bitcoin ETF doesn’t require you to buy crypto on a crypto exchange, maintain a Crypto Wallet, store your secret recovery phrase/private keys, or any of the other potential hassles of owning the actual crypto itself. It allows investors to purchase Bitcoin in the form of a known investment vehicle that most investors already utilize. It gives access to people who otherwise don’t know how or don’t have the time to open new accounts, go through Know Your Customer (KYC) routines again, and who just want the ease of buying a fund through their brokerage account. And because of the hype around Bitcoin, the competition between fund providers to attract your investment resulted in fees that are incredibly reasonable.
