Jan 8 (Reuters) - A raft of investment managers disclosed the fees they plan to charge for their proposed spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF), in another step toward approval this week by the U.S. securities regulator.
BlackRock (BLK.N), VanEck, Ark Investments/21Shares and Bitwise, among others, said in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that they expect to significantly undercut the average market rate for U.S. ETFs.
Their rates were well below the average rate that analysts had anticipated and that even some issuers had indicated would be the range.
A spot crypto ETF would track the market price of the underlying crypto asset, giving investors exposure to the token without having to buy the currency. Euphoria around an approval has helped bitcoin, the world's largest and best-known digital asset, rally in recent months.
The SEC, which has previously denied all spot bitcoin ETF applications citing potential for fraud, is expected to announce its decision as early as this week.
Fees on current product; Co has filed to convert bitcoin futures ETF into a spot bitcoin ETF
Source: Regulatory filings with the U.S. SEC
Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru, Suzanne McGee in New York and Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta
