Key players prepare for bitcoin ETF approval as BlackRock, ARK, and others reveal fees for customers

• Bitcoin ETF applicants including BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity and others have revealed their customer fees.
• S-1 filings from key players show BlackRock, for one, plans to charge 0.20%, while VanEck's hovers at 0.25%.
• The SEC could approve up to 13 spot bitcoin ETFs in the coming days.

The latest regulatory filings show major Wall Street players including BlackRock, ARK Invest, and Fidelity have announced customer fees for their pending spot bitcoin ETF products, which are in line for approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission potentially this week.

BlackRock plans to start its fee at 0.20% for its first 12 months until the fund hits $5 billion. Then it will rise to 0.30%, according to its S-1 filing.

That's cheaper than Fidelity's, which set its fee at 0.39%. Valkyrie plans to charge 0.80%, according to a CoinDesk report.

Invesco and Galaxy's fund, meanwhile, won't charge any fee for the first six months, then will implement a 0.59% fee. WisdomTree will charge 0.50%, while Cathie Wood's ARK Invest and its custodian 21Shares will charge 0.25%, the same as VanEck's fee.

The SEC could approve as many as 13 firms' applications by this week's January 10 deadline.

Speaking with CoinDesk, sources said the fees will be critical in determining the popularity and attractiveness to potential investors.

"From a pure competitive standpoint, expense ratio matters greatly in this particular category," Nate Geraci, the president of investment firm The ETF Store, wrote in an X post.

Bitcoin moved more than 2% higher on Monday to hover above $45,090. It's up more than 5.2% in the last five days, adding to its triple-digit gains in 2023.

Investors are also looking ahead to the bitcoin halving event, anticipated around April this year. After halving, bitcoin miners will be rewarded half as many tokens for their efforts.

The cryptocurrency has jumped to all-time highs following each of the prior three halving events.