Trust Expenses

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2025

The Trust pays the unitary Sponsor fee of 0.21% of the Trust’s bitcoin holdings. The Sponsor fee is paid by the Trust to the Sponsor as compensation for services performed under the Trust Agreement. The Sponsor agreed to waive the entire Sponsor fee for (i) a nine-month period which commenced on January 11, 2024 (the day the Trust’s Shares were initially listed on the Exchange), or (ii) the first $1 billion of Trust assets, whichever came first. The Trust assets exceeded $1 billion in February 2024, at which time the waiver period ended. Except for during periods during which the Sponsor fee has been waived, the Sponsor fee accrues daily and is payable in bitcoin weekly in arrears. The Administrator calculates the Sponsor fee on a daily basis by applying a 0.21% annualized rate to the Trust’s total bitcoin holdings, and the amount of bitcoin payable in respect of each daily accrual is determined by reference to the Index. The Trust incurred Sponsor fees for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 of $9,767,516 and $5,925,225, respectively. The Sponsor fee for the year ended December 31, 2024 included a fee waiver of $93,111. The accrued liability at December 31, 2025 and 2024 was $71,364 and $357,613 respectively.

The Sponsor has agreed to pay all operating expenses (except for litigation expenses and other extraordinary expenses) out of the Sponsor fee. Operating expenses assumed by the Sponsor include (i) fees to the Sub-Adviser; (ii) the fee payable to marketing agents for services provided to the Trust (the “Marketing Fee”), (iii) fees to the Administrator, if any, (iv) fees to the Custodians, (v) fees to the Transfer Agent, (vi) fees to the Trustee, (vii) the fees and expenses related to any future listing, trading or quotation of the Shares on any listing exchange or quotation system (including legal, marketing and audit fees and expenses), (viii) ordinary course legal fees and expenses but not litigation-related expenses, (ix) audit fees, (x) regulatory fees, including, if applicable, any fees relating to the registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or Exchange Act, (xi) printing and mailing costs; (xii) costs of maintaining the Sponsor’s website and (xiii) applicable license fees (each, a “Sponsor-paid Expense,” and together, the “Sponsor-paid Expenses”), provided that any expense that qualifies as an Additional Trust Expense (as defined below) will be deemed to be an Additional Trust Expense and not a Sponsor-paid Expense.

The Sponsor will not, however, assume certain extraordinary, non-recurring expenses that are not Sponsor-paid Expenses, including, but not limited to, taxes and governmental charges, expenses and costs of any extraordinary services performed by the Sponsor (or any other service provider) on behalf of the Trust to protect the Trust or the interests of Shareholders, any indemnification of the Custodians, Administrator or other agents, service providers or counter-parties of the Trust, the fees and expenses related to the listing, and extraordinary legal fees and expenses, including any legal fees and expenses incurred in connection with litigation, regulatory enforcement or investigation matters (collectively, “Additional Trust Expenses”). Of the Sponsor-paid Expenses, ordinary course legal fees and expenses shall be subject to a cap of $100,000 per annum. In the Sponsor’s sole discretion, all or any portion of a Sponsor-paid Expense may be re-designated as an Additional Trust Expense.

To the extent that the Sponsor does not voluntarily assume expenses, they will be the responsibility of the Trust. The Sponsor also pays the costs of the Trust’s organization and offering. The Trust is not obligated to repay any such costs related to the Trust’s organization and offering paid by the Sponsor.

Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF 10-K