## [# Crypto Index ETFs Are Getting Cheaper. But They All Look Alike](/sections/features/crypto-index-etfs-are-getting-cheaper-they-all-look-alike)
# Crypto Index ETFs Are Getting Cheaper. But They All Look Alike
As fees drop across crypto index ETFs, differences between funds remain minimal, with portfolios heavily concentrated in Bitcoin and Ethereum.
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[By Sumit Roy ](/authors/sumit-roy)
Mar 17, 2026
Edited by: ETF.com Staff
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Hashdex Asset Management announced this week that it will permanently reduce the fee on its crypto index ETF to 0.25%, down from 0.5%. The move makes permanent a lower fee that had previously been in place through a temporary waiver.
The cut raises a familiar question for the ETF industry. Will crypto index funds follow the same path as other asset classes and enter a race to ever lower fees?
There are currently seven U.S.-listed crypto index ETFs. Five aim to track the broader crypto market, while two focus specifically on altcoins by excluding Bitcoin and/or Ethereum.
Among the group, the [**Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF (NCIQ)**](/nciq) is now the second cheapest, with a 0.25% expense ratio and about $107 million in assets. The lowest-cost option is the [**Franklin Crypto Index ETF (EZPZ)**](/ezpz), which charges 0.19% but has just $11 million in assets.
At the other end of the spectrum sits the largest fund, the [**Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF (BITW)**](/bitw), which has $758 million in assets and charges 0.75%. The second largest, the [**Grayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF (GDLC)**](/hdlc), has $414 million and a 0.59% expense ratio.
## Similar Exposure
Fees are one dimension of competition, but the way these funds construct their portfolios is just as important. Despite differences in index methodologies, the broad market crypto ETFs look remarkably similar under the hood.
GDLC holds just five assets, yet Bitcoin accounts for roughly three quarters of the portfolio, while Ethereum makes up about 14%. That may sound concentrated, but other funds with more holdings are not meaningfully different.
EZPZ also allocates about three quarters of its portfolio to Bitcoin and around 13% to Ethereum, with the remainder spread across smaller positions in tokens such as XRP, Solana and Dogecoin.
BITW and NCIQ follow a similar pattern. In both cases, Bitcoin represents roughly three quarters of the portfolio, with Ethereum accounting for another low teens percentage.
That leaves only about 10% of assets allocated to the rest of the crypto market.
According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin currently represents around 60% of total crypto market value and Ethereum about 11%, meaning these portfolios are even more concentrated than the market itself.
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## Altcoin Tilt
The two altcoin focused ETFs take a different approach.
The [**CoinShares Altcoin ETF (DIME)**](/dime) excludes both Bitcoin and Ethereum, allocating entirely to smaller tokens such as Polkadot, Solana, Cardano and Sui.
Because Bitcoin and Ethereum together make up more than 70% of the crypto market, DIME represents a much narrower and more volatile slice of the ecosystem. It is closer to small cap exposure in equities, though with significantly higher risk.
The [**21Shares FTSE Crypto 10 ex Bitcoin Index ETF (TXBC)**](/txbc) also tilts toward altcoins but includes Ethereum. As a result, Ethereum alone accounts for nearly half of the portfolio.
Both altcoin funds hold 10 tokens.
## Tight Performance
So far, performance across the broad market funds has been tightly clustered.
Year to date, EZPZ has performed the best, down 16.2%, which is consistent with its lower expense ratio. NCIQ is down 16.7%, BITW has fallen 16.5% and GDLC is down 17.1%.
The altcoin funds have fared worse. DIME has declined 21%, while TXBC is down 19.3%.
The narrow spread in returns among the broader funds reflects how similar their underlying exposures are. With portfolios heavily dominated by Bitcoin and Ethereum, there is limited room for meaningful divergence.
## Fees Matter More
For now, differences in fees may matter more than differences in portfolio construction.
If exposure remains largely the same across funds, lower cost options such as EZPZ and now NCIQ could become more attractive to investors.
That dynamic raises the possibility that crypto index ETFs could follow the same path as equity and bond funds, where competition steadily drives fees lower over time.
At the same time, the current structure of the crypto market limits how differentiated these products can be. As long as Bitcoin and Ethereum dominate market capitalization, most broad crypto index funds will end up looking quite similar.
That could change if other assets grow in importance. Until then, investors choosing between these funds are largely deciding how much they want to pay for exposure that is, for now, mostly the same.
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[ Sumit Roy Senior ETF Analyst ](/authors/sumit-roy)
Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com and author of (Don't) Invest Like a Pro. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including… [View Bio](/authors/sumit-roy)
Related Topics [Crypto](http://www.etf.com/topics/cryptocurrency)
[Crypto ETFs](http://www.etf.com/topics/crypto-etfs)
[Bitcoin](http://www.etf.com/topics/bitcoin)
[Ethereum](http://www.etf.com/topics/ethereum)