Sponsor fees for the top crypto ETFs by assets under management. Fees are extracted from each fund's most recent SEC prospectus filing (POS AM or S-1/A). Many of these funds operate under temporary fee waivers that bring the fee a holder actually pays below the headline number — the prospectus is the source of truth for current waiver status.
This list covers the top 10 funds by AUM across all spot crypto ETFs (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other assets that have reached trading status). The fee war is concentrated in this cohort — the long tail of smaller funds tends to follow the leaders.
Top 10 by AUM — sponsor fees
| Fund | Ticker | Crypto | Sponsor fee | AUM (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF | IBIT | bitcoin | 0.25% | $53,396,223,856 |
| Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund | FBTC | bitcoin | 0.25% | $12,818,199,000 |
| Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF | GBTC | bitcoin | 1.5% | $10,489,739,000 |
| iShares Ethereum Trust ETF | ETHA | ethereum | 0.25% | $6,379,790,561 |
| Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF | BTC | bitcoin | 0.15% | $3,503,705,000 |
| Bitwise Bitcoin ETF | BITB | bitcoin | 0.20% | $2,549,527,000 |
| Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF | ARKB | bitcoin | 0.21% | $2,388,764,000 |
| VanEck Bitcoin ETF | HODL | bitcoin | 0.20% | $2,039,322,369 |
| Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF | ETH | ethereum | 0.15% | $1,804,774,000 |
| Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF | ETHE | ethereum | 2.50% | $1,784,971,000 |
How to read the fee column
The sponsor fee is the headline annual management fee charged by the fund's sponsor. It is typically expressed as a percentage of net asset value, accrued daily, and paid monthly. For spot crypto ETFs the sponsor fee is the single largest expense in most fund structures — there is rarely a separate management fee or trustee fee on top.
Many spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs launched with temporary fee waivers that brought the fee holders actually paid to zero or near-zero during the launch window. Current waiver status varies by fund and can change — the most recent prospectus on EDGAR is the source of truth.
Why fee compression matters
For spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, fee competition has driven sponsor fees from the 0.95%+ range at the original Grayscale trust era down to 0.15–0.25% on the major issuers — and to zero (during waiver windows) for several launches. Lower-AUM funds typically can't sustain the same discounting.
Fees are one factor in fund selection; AUM, tracking error, custody arrangement, and authorised-participant roster are the others. The Crypto ETF Sentinel Terminal surfaces all of these side-by-side for any two funds.
Where this data comes from
Sponsor fees are extracted from POS AM filings (post-effective amendments) and S-1/A amendments using a structured-extraction pipeline. AUM is read from the fund's XBRL financial reporting (typically the us-gaap:InvestmentOwnedAtFairValue concept). For full historical fee trajectories per fund — including waiver-window evolution and competitor-driven repricing — see the API.
See also: Bitcoin spot ETFs · Ethereum spot ETFs · Recent crypto ETF filings
Need the full pipeline?
This page shows the trading-status universe. The full SEC pipeline — including pre-trading filers, S-1 review cohorts, and approval-stage signals — is in the Terminal and via API.
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