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Analysis · Bitcoin

What is a bitcoin ETF? The SEC order, the spot funds, their fees and custodians

Published 2026-10-14By the CryptoGuardz Register Desk6 min read11 sources

Photo: Aditya Vyas / Unsplash

In short, from the documents

What is a bitcoin ETF?

A spot bitcoin ETF is a trust whose shares trade on a stock exchange and which holds bitcoin with a custodian. The SEC approved 11 such listings on 10 January 2024 in Release No. 34-99306. Sponsor fees on issuers' own pages read on 14 October 2026 range from 0.15% to 0.25%.

Piece published 2026-10-14Reviewed by CryptoGuardz Register Desk, editorial desk

A spot bitcoin ETF is a trust that holds bitcoin with a custodian and whose shares trade on a US stock exchange, so a buyer gets bitcoin's price movement through a brokerage account without holding keys. The SEC approved 11 of these listings on 10 January 2024. On the issuers' own pages, read on 14 October 2026, the sponsor fees that could be confirmed run from 0.15% to 0.25% a year.

The approval order was read on sec.gov. Each fund's fee, exchange and custodian come from its sponsor's own page, read the same day; where a page did not load or did not state the figure, the table says not verified. None of this is a recommendation to buy a fund or bitcoin.

What is a bitcoin ETF, in the SEC's words?

A commodity-based trust. Release No. 34-99306 is titled "Order Granting Accelerated Approval of Proposed Rule Changes, as Modified by Amendments Thereto, to List and Trade Bitcoin-Based Commodity-Based Trust Shares and Trust Units". Its operative line:

This order approves the Proposals on an accelerated basis.

SEC Release No. 34-99306, 10 January 2024, retrieved 2026-10-14

The order approved exchange rule changes, not bitcoin. The SEC chair's statement the same day drew that line: "While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin." It called bitcoin "primarily a speculative, volatile asset".

Which bitcoin ETFs did the SEC approve in January 2024?

Eleven, across three exchanges, as named in the order:

NYSE Arca: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, Hashdex Bitcoin ETF
Nasdaq: iShares Bitcoin Trust, Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund
Cboe BZX: ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, VanEck Bitcoin Trust, WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, Franklin Bitcoin ETF

SEC approves 11 bitcoin spot ETFsVideo by CNBC Television on YouTube. Watch on YouTubeCNBC Television's news report on the SEC approving 11 spot bitcoin ETFs, the order whose fund list this section reproduces.

Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) is not in that order; when and how it was approved is not verified here. Which funds have since been renamed, merged or closed was not checked fund by fund, so the list is the order's list, not today's market.

What do the spot bitcoin ETFs charge, and who holds the bitcoin?

Ticker	Sponsor fee	Bitcoin custodian	Listed on
BTC (Grayscale Mini)	0.15%	Coinbase Custody Trust Company	NYSE Arca
BITB (Bitwise)	0.20%	Coinbase Custody Trust Co.	NYSE Arca
HODL (VanEck)	0.20%	Not disclosed on page	Cboe BZX
IBIT (iShares)	0.25%	Not disclosed on page	Nasdaq
FBTC (Fidelity)	0.25%	Fidelity Digital Assets, N.A.	Cboe BZX
BTCW (WisdomTree)	0.25%	Not disclosed on page	Cboe BZX
GBTC (Grayscale)	Not verified	Coinbase Custody Trust Company	NYSE Arca
ARKB (ARK 21Shares)	Not verified	Not disclosed on page	Cboe BZX

Exchanges for HODL, BTCW and ARKB come from the SEC order, because their pages did not state one. Grayscale's pages date their key fund data 20 November 2024 (BTC) and 10 February 2025 (GBTC), so those rows may be stale. GBTC's page shows the ratio was 2.00% before 11 January 2024 but did not display the current figure. ARKB's page showed "EXPENSE RATIO --". Franklin's and Invesco's fund pages did not load their data, and CoinShares' site blocks automated reading, so their fees and custodians are not verified. Bitwise's page also states a past waiver: "the Sponsor has agreed to waive the entire Sponsor Fee on the first $1 billion of Trust assets" for six months from listing.

Size, where the sponsor published it: IBIT showed net assets of $66,858,428,377 as of 13 October 2026; BITB $3,100,135,163 as of 11 October; HODL $1,219,292,203 as of 13 October; BTCW total assets of $170.8 million as of 13 October. Fidelity's fact sheet showed FBTC portfolio assets of $10,223.3 million at 30 June 2026.

How do ETF custodians hold the bitcoin?

As keys. Answering a commenter, the SEC order acknowledges that "bitcoin custodians only hold keys to such bitcoin and not the bitcoin itself", which it says "could introduce risks". That is the structure of every fund in the table: the trust owns the coins, a regulated custodian controls the keys, and the shareholder owns a share of the trust. Three of the four funds with a named custodian use Coinbase Custody. The exchange side of Coinbase is on the Coinbase register entry.

Rows of steel safe deposit drawers, some pulled open — Illustration only: deposit drawers. The SEC order notes custodians hold keys to the bitcoin, not the bitcoin itself. Photo: Jason Pofahl / Unsplash

The order also records that "Each Exchange has a comprehensive surveillance-sharing agreement with the CME", and notes that agreements with Coinbase, Inc. "are not a basis for approval."

With an ETF share, the custodian holds the keys for the trust, the cost is the sponsor fee, 0.15% to 0.25% a year in the table above, and trading follows exchange hours. With bitcoin in a self-custody wallet, the holder holds the keys, pays a network fee each time coins move, and can send at any hour.

A price chart on a screen in a dim room, shot with shallow focus — Illustration: a price chart. An ETF share trades in exchange hours and charges a sponsor fee; coins in a wallet move any time. Photo: m. / Unsplash

An ETF share cannot be deposited at a crypto casino or sent to a wallet; the coins never leave the trust's custody. Self-custody moves the risk to the holder, as covered on cold vs hot wallets and the self-custody safety checklist.

Quick answers

What is a bitcoin ETF?

An exchange-listed trust that holds bitcoin with a custodian. The SEC approved 11 spot listings on 10 January 2024 in Release No. 34-99306.

How do spot bitcoin ETF fees compare?

Of the fees confirmed on sponsor pages on 14 October 2026, Grayscale's Mini Trust (BTC) listed 0.15%. Bitwise and VanEck listed 0.20%; iShares, Fidelity and WisdomTree 0.25%.

Did the SEC approve bitcoin itself?

No. Chair Gensler: "we did not approve or endorse bitcoin." The order approved exchange listing rules. What stands behind the coin is on what is bitcoin backed by.

Who is the custodian for bitcoin ETFs?

It varies. Coinbase Custody for BTC, BITB and GBTC; Fidelity Digital Assets for FBTC. iShares, VanEck and WisdomTree pages read on 14 October 2026 did not name one. Custody risk is covered on is bitcoin safe.

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Sources

About this piece

Compiled by the CryptoGuardz register team from the sources listed above. Research and drafting are AI-assisted and reviewed by a named editor before publication. Nothing here is a recommendation to gamble. If a figure or a reading is wrong, tell us and the correction is logged in public.