VanEck has announced it will waive fees for its spot Ethereum ETF, following a strategy similar to its Bitcoin counterpart launched earlier this year.

According to Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, this fee waiver is part of their strategy to establish themselves as a leading provider of crypto ETFs.

"We aim to lead in crypto ETF fees, even if it means initial losses," Sigel stated to ETF.com, expressing confidence that this approach will attract a broad range of investors and stimulate interest in Ethereum as a portfolio asset. He noted that eliminating fees will also lower the entry barrier for new investors.

Sigel further explained to CryptoSlate that VanEck has strong conviction in Ethereum as an asset and anticipates financial gains from potential price increases as on-chain activity grows, potentially offsetting initial fee waivers.

In addition to the fee waiver announcement, VanEck submitted an 8-A securities registration form to the SEC on June 25. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas viewed this filing as routine but indicated it was a positive signal, aligning with his prediction for a potential launch around July 2.

Regarding fee structures, VanEck's S-1 amendment on June 22 disclosed plans to waive fees on the first $1.5 billion in assets until an unspecified date in 2025, after which a 0.20% sponsor fee will be imposed. Franklin Templeton, the only other spot ETH ETF issuer, disclosed a 0.19% sponsor fee and a $10 billion fee waiver for six months.

Both fee structures are comparable to those of the lowest spot Bitcoin ETFs, which generally range from 0.19% to 0.39%, except for Grayscale's GBTC, which carries a 1.5% fee.

While competition on fees among spot ETH ETF issuers has yet to reach the intensity seen with Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year, Eric Balchunas anticipates that BlackRock's eventual ETH ETF fee will set a benchmark for others to follow, describing it as the "sun that the rest will need to orbit around."