Bitcoin ETF approval kicks off fee wars, expert say BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale will stay long term

• The Bitcoin Spot ETF approval by the US financial regulator on Wednesday ignites fee wars between issuers. 
• Crypto expert Vijay Boyapati said that BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale are likely to emerge as survivors in the long term. 
• Bitcoin price is up nearly 9% on the week, with  gains capped below $48,000.

The Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) was approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, marking January 10 as a historic moment for BTC holders after years of anticipation. The approval has triggered fee wars among the 11 issuers, and experts weigh in on who is likely to survive in the long term by offering near-zero fees to market participants.

Bitcoin price increased slightly after the announcement, but these gains were quickly erased.  

Also read: Bitcoin ETF finally approved by SEC

Daily digest market movers: Bitcoin ETFs receive SEC greenlight 

• The Bitcoin ETF approval marked the end of an era of anticipation among market participants. The next catalyst for BTC price is the upcoming halving event, which is scheduled for April. 
• The approval ushered in competition among issuers to offer the lowest fee and capture the largest market share. 
• Vijay Boyapati, a crypto expert and author, shared his views on issuers that are likely to survive in the long term, and offer near-zero fees on Bitcoin Spot ETFs. Boyapati named BlackRock, Fidelity and Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF products as the most likely to gain market share.
• According to the expert, asset management giant Blackrock is big enough to handle almost-zero margin indefinitely, Fidelity has a large enough client base, and Grayscale is likely to differentiate itself with the largest volume of Assets Under Management (AUM).

• Approved Bitcoin ETFs and their reported fees are as follows:

Grayscale (GBTC): 1.5%

Hashdex (DEFI): 0.9%

Valkyrie (BRRR): 0.49%

Invesco (BTCO): 0.39%

Wisdom Tree (BTCW):  0.3%

Franklin (EZBC):  0.29%

Blackrock (IBIT): 0.25%

Fidelity (FBTC):  0.25%

Vaneck (HODL): 0.25%

Ark 21 (ARKB): 0.21%

Bitwise (BITB): 0.2%

• The upcoming Bitcoin halving event could act as a catalyst for BTC price. The halving is less than 100 days away, and historically BTC price has rallied after the halving. 

Bitcoin Number of Days until Halving. Source: Glassnode

Technical Analysis: Bitcoin price finds strong support at $45,000, 

Bitcoin price rallied in response to the optimism from the BTC Spot ETF approval by the US financial regulator. There are two key catalysts: Spot ETF approval, and the halving, that were expected to drive gains in BTC. Whether BTC price rallies once Spot ETFs start trading remains to be seen. 

The announcement showed that Bitcoin’s upside is capped below $48,000. Bitcoin price increased slightly to $47,690 after the SEC’s approval, but fell later to around $46,000 on Thursday. 

Analysts at Skew @52kskew said that as long as Bitcoin price holds above $44,700, BTC is in an uptrend. The asset faces resistance between $47,000 and $48,000 on a high time frame. 

BTC/USDT 4-hour chart Source:Skew tweet on X

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