VanEck has halved the fee charged on its European-domiciled directly backed bitcoin ETP.

Martijn Rozemuller, Head of Europe at VanEck.

The VanEck Vectors Bitcoin ETN (VBTC GY) now comes with an expense ratio of 1.00%, down from its original price tag of 2%.

The ETP, which trades in euros on Deutsche Börse, tracks the MVIS CryptoCompare Bitcoin VWAP Close Index, providing exposure to the price movement of bitcoin.

Each unit of VBTC is “physically” backed with actual bitcoin, providing direct exposure to the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap with the added oversight, security, and liquidity of an ETP.

The ETP’s bitcoin holdings are kept in institutional-grade “cold storage” by Bank Frick, a Liechtenstein-based institution specializing in crossover finance.

Since launching in November 2020, VBTC has grown to over $140 million in assets under management.

Martijn Rozemuller, Head of Europe at VanEck, commented: “We are seeing a lot of interest on the investor side in our bitcoin ETN. By reducing costs, we aim to pass on the positive economies of scale achieved through rapid growth to customers, allowing them to participate more directly in the performance of bitcoin in the future via an exchange-traded product.”

Investors now have several choices for directly backed bitcoin ETP exposure in Europe. These include the $1.2 billion BTCetc Bitcoin Exchange Traded Crypto (BTCE SW) at 2.00%; the $350m WisdomTree Bitcoin ETP (BTCW SW) at 0.95%; the $340m CoinShares Physical Bitcoin ETP (BITC SW) at 0.98%; and the $300m 21Shares Bitcoin ETP (ABTC SW) at 1.49%.