Fidelity and iShares Crypto Funds Offer Different Risk Profiles

The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund and the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF offer institutional-grade access to the two largest digital assets, but they have distinct characteristics. While both track their respective assets with identical fees, they present different risk profiles.

According to the data, the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund has a maximum drawdown of 49.3% over the past year, while the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF's maximum drawdown is significantly higher at 61.7%. The Fidelity fund also shows more growth in its $1,000 investment over one year, with a total return of $611 compared to the iShares fund's $683.

Both funds have a beta measure of price volatility relative to the S&P 500, but the Fidelity fund has a lower beta at 2.02 compared to the iShares fund's 2.47. The expense ratio for both funds is 0.25%, making them among the more affordable options for crypto-linked products available to individual investors today.

Morgan Stanley recently filed registration paperwork for two ETFs that would convert stock dividends into Bitcoin, but these funds are not directly comparable to the Fidelity and iShares funds. The new Morgan Stanley ETFs have a lower sponsor fee of 0.14% per annum, which is lower than several other Ethereum and Solana ETFs.