Bitcoin News
WisdomTree BTCW cuts costs to undercut Franklin EZBC
The battle for low fees
WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW) charges a 0.15% management fee. This 0.09% cut undercuts Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC), which maintains a 0.19% expense ratio. I find the fee advantage of BTCW compelling. EZBC holds $450.09 million in assets, whereas BTCW’s total AUM reaches $1,553,748,022. BTCW uses Swissquote Bank Ltd, Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC, and BitGo Trust Company, Inc. as custodians. BTCW’s 1-month return was 25.53%, which exceeds the 21.65% return of EZBC. The total AUM for WisdomTree’s issuer is $2,088,630,078.
Performance and risk metrics
The 2024 performance gap between the two products is wide. BTCW delivered a 92.79% return during that period, while EZBC returned 87.83%. In 2025, BTCW saw a -6.05% return, beating EZBC’s -6.56%. Looking at the 2026 YTD figures, EZBC shows a -7.27% return against BTCW’s -7.43%. The difference in 2024 returns between these two funds is 4.96 percentage points, which favors the WisdomTree product for investors seeking to maximize their historical gains from the cryptocurrency’s massive price surge. EZBC displays higher liquidity with a 30-day average volume of $7.21 million. BTCW trails with a $1.59 million average volume for the same period. You should look closely at this volume disparity before placing large orders. The 1-year volatility for BTCW is 45.55%, while EZBC sits at 45.66%. Both funds experienced heavy losses when considering the maximum drawdown, which hit -53.37% for BTCW and -53.35% for EZBC. I notice EZBC has a higher 3-month return of 16.50% compared to BTCW’s 10.36%. I also see EZBC has a higher current drawdown of -35.45% compared to BTCW’s -35.48%. For the 1-year period, BTCW returned -29% while EZBC returned -34.02%. EZBC shows a 5-day volatility of 167.03%, a 20-day volatility of 43.46%, and a 200-day volatility of 37.37%. For the 3-month period, EZBC volume reached $5.56 million, whereas BTCW volume was only $1.48 million. BTCW also provided a 5-year return of 70.48%, while EZBC returned only 0.10%. The 6-month volatility for BTCW is 26.81%, and EZBC is 26.68%.
Decision data
Risk profiles remain nearly identical across both funds. I see a Sharpe ratio of -0.68 for EZBC and -0.69 for BTCW. The Sortino ratio for both is -0.83. Omega ratio and Calmar ratio show no difference between the two. For EZBC, the Value at Risk is 4.01%, whereas BTCW is 3.93%. The CVaR for EZBC is 5.95% while BTCW is 5.93%. EZBC tracks the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate – New York Variant.
| Metric | WisdomTree (BTCW) | Franklin (EZBC) |
|---|---|---|
| Expense Ratio | 0.15% | 0.19% |
| 2024 Return | 92.79% | 87.83% |
| 2025 Return | -6.05% | -6.56% |
| 1M Volatility | 13.74% | 13.70% |
| Max Drawdown | -53.37% | -53.35% |
| 3M Return | 10.36% | 16.50% |
| 1Y Return | -29.00% | -34.02% |
I skip EZBC if I prioritize the lowest possible cost. The 0.04% difference in expense ratios sounds small, but it compounds. BTCW also outperformed EZBC in 2024 and 2025. However, EZBC has a higher 3-month return of 16.50% compared to BTCW’s 10.36%. I find the 3-year return for BTCW at 69.04% more attractive than the missing data for EZBC. I note the Martin ratio for both is -0.82. I also note the average drawdown for BTCW is -35.41% while EZBC is -35.43%. Will the liquidity gap widen as more investors move toward lower-fee options?
