Fidelity, a major asset management firm, joined BlackRock and VanEck on Friday in submitting revised forms to the Securities and Exchange Commission for their proposed spot bitcoin ETFs, aiming for potential approval by an early January deadline. The filings revealed a potential race among these firms to offer the lowest fee, pending regulatory approval.

Fidelity disclosed that its proposed fund would have a sponsor fee of just 0.39%, which was noted as the lowest among the disclosed fees. This sparked speculations about a competition for the most cost-effective fund, especially if the SEC grants approval.

Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, highlighted Fidelity's low fee as a significant move, indicating readiness to compete aggressively in the market. Meanwhile, Invesco also provided fee details, stating a sponsor fee of 0.59%, with plans to waive it for an initial six-month period.

Industry experts like Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, anticipated that BlackRock might offer an even lower fee than Fidelity's, raising questions about how these competitive fees might impact other contenders in the market.

Aside from Fidelity, other asset managers such as Valkyrie, Bitwise, WisdomTree, and Franklin Templeton also submitted fresh filings to the SEC on the last business day of the year. These filings included details about authorized participants, crucial in the creation and redemption processes and a key consideration in ongoing discussions with the SEC regarding spot bitcoin ETFs, an eagerly anticipated development in the crypto industry.