Investors got two new choices in bitcoin funds last week: the now lowest-cost spot product and a vampire fund for overnight returns. There’s a new ETF that is a creature of the night, trading in futures, options and other exchange-traded products. During the day, the Nicholas Bitcoin and Treasuries AfterDark ETF (NGHT) goes to sleep, holding short-duration Treasurys and cash. Meanwhile, investors can get their diurnal bitcoin fix via any number of funds now on the market, most recently Morgan Stanley’s ETP, which undercut the competition on price by at least a basis point.
Both of the new products launched Wednesday. Making the case for bitcoin exposure overnight, David Nicholas, CEO of Nicholas Wealth’s XFunds, points to returns for the iShares Bitcoin Trust of 200% since inception through March, during non-US trading hours, while intraday prices were down 50%. All of the gains for IBIT can be accounted for in the overnight hours, he said. Overall, IBIT has climbed about 66% since it started trading.
Some investors will probably be intrigued by this and at least supplement their spot bitcoin fund exposure with NGHT. That may not keep BlackRock up at night, but Morgan Stanley’s fund has the potential to divert some market share away from the $56 billion industry leader. After all, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust charges a slim 14 basis points, compared with IBIT’s 25 (the Nicholas Wealth fund charges 97). It also has the benefit of being in front of the company’s 16,000 advisors.
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