Van Eck Associates on March 11 announced a temporary waiver of the 0.2% sponsor fee on the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, and the surge in net inflows that the spot bitcoin ETF saw last week suggests that investors took notice.
Of the $379 million of net inflows that the trust, known by the ticker symbol HODL, has taken in since its Jan. 11 launch through March 15, $248 million flowed in during the week ended March 15, according to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF research analyst James Seyffart. Last week marked HODL’s best week for net inflows so far, Seyffart confirmed.
“They just did their fee waiver,” he said. “I have to imagine that’s what caused this big uptick.”
HODL had total net assets of $514.5 million as of March 19, according to Van Eck’s website.
In a March 11 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Van Eck announced that beginning on March 12, 2024, and ending on March 31, 2025, the entire sponsor fee would be waived for the first $1.5 billion of the trust’s assets. If trust assets top $1.5 billion before March 31, 2025, the sponsor fee charged on assets over $1.5 billion will be 0.2%, the post said. All investors will incur the same sponsor fee, which is the weighted average of those fee rates. After March 31, 2025, the sponsor fee will be 0.2%, it said.
“This fee waiver reflects our dedication to providing competitive investment opportunities that meet the needs of investors, and we believe it may encourage even more investors to explore the potential of bitcoin as part of their investment strategy,” said Kyle DaCruz, director, digital assets product with Van Eck, in a March 12 news release regarding the waiver.
As of Feb. 29, Van Eck had total assets under management of $92.5 billion, a spokesman said.
