Grayscale debuts Bitcoin Mini Trust as spot BTC ETP on NYSE Arca

Grayscale Investments has launched its Bitcoin Mini Trust as a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded product on NYSE Arca, and it began trading today.

Cryptocurrency management giant Grayscale announced in a July 31 press release that the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust is now available to trade on NYSE Arca.

The instrument, which trades as a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded product under the symbol BTC, carries a fee of 0.15%, one of the lowest among rival Bitcoin ETPs. Grayscale says it initially plans to launch the fund by transferring 10% of Bitcoin from its Bitcoin ETF product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

According to data from Farside Investors, most Bitcoin exchange-traded products currently on the market carry fees of around 0.20%.

US Bitcoin ETF fees | Source: Farside Investors

As seen above, Grayscale’s first Bitcoin ETP, GBTC, has the highest fee among competing products at 1.5%.

The press release notes that Bitcoin has begun trading on NYSA Arca with a share price of $5.84 and $1.7 billion in assets under management.

Commenting on the launch, Grayscale’s senior managing director David LaValle claimed that the product will “help further lower the barrier to accessing Bitcoin on an SEC-regulated exchange.” [sic] The company noted that Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust — unlike most mutual funds or ETF products — is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and is not regulated by that law.

Grayscale made a similar move with its spot Ethereum ETPs. Last week, after converting the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) to a spot ETP (while retaining its relatively high 2.5% fee), the firm launched an Ethereum Mini Trust (under the symbol ETH) with a relatively low fee of 0.15%.