Bitwise Asset Management’s Chief Investment Officer Discusses Firm’s Forthcoming Bitcoin ETF
On 8 January 2024, Bitwise Asset Management’s Chief Investment Officer, Matt Hougan, appeared on Bloomberg TV’s “Bloomberg ETF IQ” to discuss the firm’s forthcoming spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States.
Proposed Fee and Rationale
Hougan emphasized that lower fees directly benefit ETF investors and expressed confidence that the 24 basis point fee for Bitwise’s forthcoming spot Bitcoin ETF would be advantageous for both investors and issuers. Furthermore, today Bitwise decided to make their spot Bitcoin ETF even more competitive by dropping their management fee to just 20 basis points.
Comparative Fee Analysis
Hougan chose not to comment directly on Grayscale’s strategy to reduce its management fee from 2% to 1.5%, but suggested that each ETF would likely find its appropriate investor segment based on historical expense disparities between competing products.
Market Dynamics and Liquidity Concerns
Hougan stressed the importance of considering the total cost of any ETF, including the expense ratio and trading fees, and expressed confidence in the liquidity of the Bitcoin market. He anticipates that the ETFs will operate in liquid markets, though he acknowledged the need to observe how they perform in terms of spreads and premium discounts post-launch.
Hot Take: Bitwise’s ETF Fee Drop Makes It More Competitive
Bitwise’s spot Bitcoin ETF just got even more competitive when they decided to drop their management fee to just 20 basis points today. The move shows that the fee war in this area is likely to continue, benefiting investors and issuers in the race for a good market positioning.