As of January 8, several applicants for a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) are awaiting an announcement by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), with potential trading opening on January 10. The applicants have updated their S-1 filings, disclosing management fees for their ETFs.

BlackRock’s ETF will have a fee of 0.20% until the fund reaches $5 billion in assets, after which it will increase to 30 basis points (bps). This is lower than the estimated 39 bps by Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart. ARK amended its S-1, adjusting its fee to 25 bps. Other ETFs, such as VanEck and Franklin, have fees of 25 and 29 bps, respectively. Grayscale has a higher fee at 150 bps, while Bitwise and Ark are waiving fees for the first six months or until they reach $1 billion in assets.

The low fees indicate expectations of significant demand, and issuers are competing on price to capture a greater market share. The competition to offer the lowest prices is part of a marketing strategy to make crypto investments more accessible to the masses.

S-1 filings also revealed the initial seed funding for the ETFs. VanEck has seeded its potential ETF with $72.5 million, and Bitwise, which has seeded its ETF with $500,000, expressed an interest in adding $200 million to the fund if approved.

In other ETF developments, SEC Chair Gary Gensler issued a warning about investing in crypto assets in a three-part thread on Twitter. Gensler highlighted potential non-compliance with applicable laws and federal securities laws by those offering crypto asset investments/services. The thread also cautioned investors about the risks of fraud, theft, and volatility in the crypto space.

Despite the warnings, the price of Bitcoin surpassed $45,000 on January 8 and is currently over $47,000. Ether reached over $2,300, and Solana approached $100 following a weekend decline. The competition among ETF applicants and the continued rise in cryptocurrency prices indicate the ongoing growth and interest in the crypto market.