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Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund
A major TradFi bitcoin ETF with in-house Fidelity custody.
$10,000 invested, compounded for 30 years.
Compound-fee impact at an assumed 8% annual return. The expense-ratio benchmarks (lowest + category median) come from the live cohort in /compare/etfs; the 8% return is illustrative, not a forecast.
The full custody chain.
When you buy FBTCshares, you don't hold Bitcoin — you hold a claim on the trust. The trust holds a claim on the custodian. The custodian holds the actual keys.
How FBTC compares to the other ETFs.
FBTC is everywhere.
Listed on Cboe BZX, available in essentially every U.S. brokerage. Compatible with IRA, 401(k), and HSA accounts.
The 8-factor breakdown.
Annual sponsor fee — the largest, most certain drag on returns
Trading depth and spreads for getting in and out at scale
How tightly the fund tracks spot bitcoin
Market-price premium or discount to NAV — arb efficiency
Assets under management — viability and closure risk
Fidelity combines a major asset-management platform with a long-running digital-assets business and in-house custody capability.
Clarity of fee structure — waivers, expirations, hidden costs
FBTC is differentiated by Fidelity self-custody through Fidelity Digital Assets rather than the Coinbase custody stack used by many peers.
Overall score = 7*25% + 6*20% + 8*12% + 9*10% + 6*13% + 8*8% + 9*7% + 8*5% = 7.3. The calibrated fee rubric treats a 25 bps fee as adequate rather than structurally poor; liquidity and AUM remain the main gap versus IBIT.
Questions readers actually ask about FBTC.
Is owning FBTC the same as owning Bitcoin?
Functionally for most purposes, yes — you get price exposure backed 1:1 by BTC held in cold storage. Mechanically, no — you own shares in a trust, not the underlying Bitcoin. The difference matters in three scenarios: (1) self-custody control, (2) using BTC as collateral elsewhere, (3) keeping access if your brokerage fails.
Does FBTC pay dividends?
No. The trust holds Bitcoin, which doesn't generate yield. All returns come from price appreciation of the underlying.
What happens to my FBTC if Fidelity fails?
The Bitcoin backing FBTC is held by Fidelity Digital Asset Services as a qualified custodian, legally separate from Fidelity's operating funds. The trust's assets would not be claimable by Fidelity's creditors.
Can I buy FBTC in my 401(k)?
Depends on your plan. Most modern plans that allow individual brokerage windows support it. Many default 401(k) menus don't.
The receipts.
Every figure on FBTC traces to a primary document. These are the ones we read — open any of them.
- Fidelity FBTC product page ↗Verified
Official page confirms fund objective, 25 bps expense ratio, and Fidelity Digital Assets custody.
- Fidelity FBTC launch release ↗Verified
Launch release confirms product launch, expense ratio, and positioning as a spot bitcoin ETP.
- StockAnalysis FBTC profile ↗Partial
Market-data snapshot used for AUM, shares outstanding, volume, price, exchange, and inception date.
Not investment advice. Pledge provides comparison data for educational purposes only; scores do not recommend buying, selling, or holding any ETF. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Review FBTC's current prospectus before investing — expense ratios, fee waivers, AUM, and custodian arrangements can change after a score is published.