Expense Ratios Compound Too: What 0.15%, 0.25%, and 1.50% Really Cost a Bitcoin ETF Holder
Skip to calculator ↓An expense ratio looks harmless because it is quoted per year and the number is tiny. But it is deducted every single day from the assets you own, and the assets it is deducted from are the ones you were counting on to compound. Over a decade the difference between a 0.15% fund and a 1.50% fund on the same bitcoin exposure is not 1.35% — it is closer to 12.6% of your ending balance. This calculator makes that difference visible for the specific funds that exist.
The math, in plain terms
Ignore price moves for a moment and imagine bitcoin stays flat. A $10,000 position in a 0.25% fund is worth about $9,753 after ten years and $9,512 after twenty, because the trust sold coins every day to pay its sponsor. The same $10,000 in a 1.50% fund is worth $8,597 after ten years and $7,391 after twenty. Now add growth: if bitcoin returns 8% a year for twenty years, the 0.25% fund ends near $44,300 while the 1.50% fund ends near $34,500. The fee did not just take 1.5% a year — it took the growth those coins would have earned.
This is why the coins-per-share ratio on every fund page falls over time even in a bull market. The fee is paid in bitcoin, not dollars. Our control-group check uses exactly this fact: for non-staking funds, the ratio should decline at precisely the fee rate, and in SEC-filed data for IBIT, FBTC, and GBTC it does — within a few hundredths of a percentage point.
What the U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs actually charge
As of our October 2026 snapshot: Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) is 0.15%; Bitwise (BITB) and VanEck (HODL) are 0.20%; ARK 21Shares (ARKB) is 0.21%; BlackRock (IBIT) and Fidelity (FBTC) are 0.25%; and the original Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is 1.50%. GBTC is the outlier because it converted from an over-the-counter trust in January 2024 and kept its legacy fee; Grayscale launched the Mini Trust that summer largely so investors could move to a cheaper vehicle. Several issuers ran introductory fee waivers in 2024 that have since expired, so always check the current prospectus — the calculator uses the standard rate, not a promotional one.
When a higher fee can still make sense
Fees are not the only cost. A fund with deeper trading volume will usually have a tighter bid-ask spread, which matters if you trade often. Options markets exist on some funds and not others. Tax lots in a legacy position may make switching funds expensive enough to justify staying. And for taxable accounts, selling GBTC to buy a cheaper fund realizes a gain. The calculator isolates one variable — the sponsor fee — so you can weigh it against those others with a real number instead of a hunch.
How to use it
Enter the amount you hold or plan to hold, an assumed annual return for bitcoin (use 0% to see the pure fee effect), and a horizon in years. The chart projects each fund's ending value and the dollar gap versus the cheapest option. Expense ratios are pulled from the same holdings dataset that drives the rest of the site and are refreshed weekly from issuer pages.
For informational purposes only — not financial, tax, or legal advice. Figures cited are from the sources linked above as of the date noted; verify current values at the source before acting.