Asset management company VanEck has announced that it will waive fees for its Ethereum ETF until an unspecified date in 2025 or until the fund reaches $1.5 billion in assets. Once either condition is met, the fund will charge a 0.2% fee. This strategic move positions VanEck to potentially lead in the competitive landscape of crypto ETF fees.

VanEck Aims for Lowest Crypto ETF Fees Despite Initial Losses

Matthew Sigel, the head of digital assets research at VanEck, said on social networks X that the company wants to set the lowest fees for crypto ETFs, even with losses in the process. As he pointed out, the plan is to recover these costs through volume, especially in decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions.

Sigel recommended that the successful listing of Ethereum ETFs would bring in more investors to Ethereum, increasing the activity on the Ethereum network. As a result, it will possibly lead to an increase in the price of Ether which in the process benefits VanEck.

Sigel also suggested that VanEck may be interested in investing in Ethereum DeFi protocols like Curve or Aave. This approach resembles VanEck’s approach with the spot Bitcoin ETF, where the fund has zero fees until it reaches $150m in AUM or March 31, 2025. Currently, the Bitcoin ETF has attracted $614 million in assets, making it the sixth-largest spot Bitcoin ETF.

Market Awaits BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF Fee Announcement

On a more general level, the fee level of Ethereum ETFs is an important parameter for potential issuers to focus on. Out of the nine potential issuers, only VanEck and Franklin Templeton have provided information on the Ethereum ETF fees. Franklin Templeton has chosen to price its ETF at 0.19%, which is the same as its Bitcoin ETF.

ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Eric Balchunas says that companies rarely announce fees until the final phases of the launch of an ETF. According to Balchunas, many issuers are waiting for BlackRock’s fee announcement. Furthermore, he believes that it will have a huge impact in the market. He says he expects the fee models adopted by BlackRock to be the benchmark fee models for other competitors.