Overview
- VanEck is waiving HODL’s 0.20% sponsor fee on assets up to $2.5 billion or until July 31, 2026, which makes the fund effectively free for current investors until the cap or date is reached.
- BlackRock’s IBIT remains far larger, with reports showing roughly $50 billion or more in assets, and that scale typically produces tighter bid-ask spreads and deeper order books for traders.
- The headline fee gap is 0.05 percentage points after the waiver ends because HODL’s stated expense ratio is 0.20% versus IBIT’s 0.25%, a difference that compounds over long holding periods for small investors.
- For large or frequent trades the execution cost from wider spreads and slippage on the smaller HODL can outweigh its fee savings, making IBIT the better choice for institutional allocators and active traders.
- Both ETFs launched after SEC approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in early 2024 and give regulated, broker-traded Bitcoin exposure without private-key custody, with HODL custodied at Gemini and IBIT custodied at Coinbase Custody.