Liliya Filakhtova
Grayscale Investments has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a mini-version of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (NYSEARCA:GBTC), esentially a spinoff of the larger ETF with lower fees.
“Most notably, this new ETF would be designed to have a materially lower fee than GBTC,” Grayscale said in a letter to investors, without specifying the fee rate of the planned ETF.
A certain amount of bitcoin (BTC-USD) backing GBTC shares would “seed” the new Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, which the company expects to trade on NYSE Arca under the “BTC” ticker.
The created shares of the new trust would then be distributed to Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) shareholders at a ratio of their holdings that hasn’t yet been determined.
“We believe this would be net-positive for existing GBTC investors, who would benefit from a lower blended fee with the same exposure to Bitcoin, spanning ownership of shares of both GBTC and BTC,” the company noted.
The investment is not a direct investment in bitcoin (BTC-USD), but is designed to provide investors with “a cost-effective and convenient way to gain investment exposure to bitcoin,” according to BTC’s S-1 filing.
“The Trust’s investment objective is for the value of the shares (based on bitcoin per share) to reflect the value of the bitcoin held by the Trust, determined by reference to the Index Price, less the Trust’s expenses and other liabilities,” the company said.
GBTC stock gained 2.2% in Wednesday afternoon trading, during a period when bitcoin (BTC-USD) rose 2.1% to $72.9K.