Grayscale CEO says fees on its bitcoin ETF will drop over time after outflows hit $12 billion

cnbc.com:

LONDON — The boss of digital asset management firm Grayscale, which manages the $26 billion exchange-traded fund GBTC, has said that fees on its flagship product will come down over time, after its outflows reached $12 billion.

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said that the crypto fund manager expects to bring fees on its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF down in the coming months, as the nascent crypto ETF market matures.

«I'll happily confirm that, over time, as this market matures, the fees on GBTC will come down,» Sonnenshein told CNBC in an interview on Monday. The firm previously defended its costlier-than-market-average charges.

«We have seen this in countless other exposures, countless other markets, you name it, where typically when products are earlier in their lifecycle, when they're new to be introduced, these [fees] tend to be higher. And, as those markets mature, and as those funds grow, those fees tend to come down, and we expect the same to be true of GBTC.»

GBTC has logged outflows of more than $12 billion since it was converted into an ETF in early January, according to data from crypto investment firm CoinShares, due in no small part to its higher-than-average fees.

CoinShares' data shows that GBTC recorded its biggest single daily outflow on Monday, with withdrawals totalling $643 million.

«Of course, we anticipated having outflows,» Sonnenshein told CNBC. «Investors have been wanting to either take gains on their portfolio, or arbitragers coming out of the fund, or people unwinding positions that were part of bankruptcies through forced liquidation.»

Market commentators argue that the bankruptcy of crypto giant FTX has played a significant role in the selloff of GBTC. FTX was a major holder of GBTC before