Launched in January 2025 by Grayscale, the MNRS ETF tracks the Indxx Bitcoin Miners Index and offers equity-market exposure to bitcoin mining. Despite a one-day rebound of 7.82%, the fund shows a -5.71% loss over one year and carries a negative Morningstar rating.
🔑 Key Takeaways
- Launched on January 30, 2025 by Grayscale (Digital Currency Group), listed on NYSE Arca
- 0.59% expense ratio, ~$12.46M AUM and 27 holdings as of September 18, 2026
- Top 3: IREN (~15.8%), Hut 8 (~11%), Applied Digital (~8.5%)
- Weekly performance +10.08%, monthly +4.74%, annual -5.71%
- Negative Morningstar Medalist rating, semi-annual dividend yielding ~0.93% annualized
Structure and objectives of the MNRS fund
Launched on January 30, 2025 by Grayscale, the crypto asset management brand of Digital Currency Group, the MNRS ETF trades on NYSE Arca under ticker MNRS (CUSIP 38963H206, ISIN US38963H2067). The fund seeks to replicate the performance of the Indxx Bitcoin Miners Index, a rules-based benchmark that selects global companies generating a significant share of their revenue from bitcoin mining or adjacent services, including ASIC manufacturing (specialized mining chips), hosting and energy infrastructure.
The total expense ratio stands at 0.59%, competitive for a thematic sector ETF but above plain-vanilla S&P 500 products. Management is fully passive: no tactical rotation, no active hedging. Rebalancing follows the methodology of index provider Indxx, which uses free-float market capitalization as the primary weighting factor. The fund’s CUSIP is 38963H206 and its ISIN US38963H2067, two identifiers that matter for cross-border brokerage and tax reporting.
The fund’s stated objective, as set out in the official documentation, is to provide targeted exposure to bitcoin miners, described as a pillar of the Bitcoin network. This positioning makes MNRS a directional amplification vehicle on BTC rather than a neutral crypto risk proxy, which is essential context before assessing performance and risks.
Portfolio composition and top holdings
As of September 18, 2026, the fund held 27 positions, with the top ten accounting for roughly 67% of assets. The free-float market-cap weighting scheme mechanically overweights the most capitalized players in the sector, which can create meaningful single-name dependency for the portfolio.
| Holding | Approximate weight |
|---|---|
| IREN Ltd. | 15.84 – 16.15% |
| Hut 8 Corp. | 10.72 – 11.79% |
| Applied Digital Corp. | 8.11 – 8.77% |
| SBI Holdings Inc. | ~5.0% |
| MARA Holdings Inc. | ~4.6% |
| Block Inc. | ~4.5% |
| Cleanspark Inc. | ~4.5% |
| NVIDIA Corp. | ~4.4% |
| Riot Platforms Inc. | ~4.3% |
| Bit Digital Inc. | ~4.0% |
The inclusion of NVIDIA Corp. and Block Inc. (formerly Square) highlights the broad scope of the index, which is not limited to pure-play miners. NVIDIA is included as a supplier of GPUs (graphics processing units) historically used in mining, while Block represents the bitcoin-adjacent financial services ecosystem (Cash App wallet, Bitcoin execution services). This partial diversification slightly dilutes the purity of the theme, but it provides broader exposure to the economic infrastructure of bitcoin, which may reduce volatility during periods of mining stress (margin compression, post-halving hashrate expansion).
Performance, valuation and fund flows
On September 18, 2026, MNRS shares rose by $2.73, or +7.82%, closing at $37.63 within an intraday range of $37.01 to $37.63. The net asset value per share stood at $37.76, representing a 0.34% discount to the market price. This modest discount signals that secondary demand is slightly below the intrinsic value of the basket, without any meaningful dislocation. The 30-day median bid-ask spread sits at 0.29%, suggesting a reasonably efficient secondary market despite the fund’s small size.
Over longer horizons, returns are more uneven. The table below summarizes the fund’s performance as of September 18, 2026:
| Period | Performance |
|---|---|
| 1 day | +7.82% |
| 1 week | +10.08% |
| 1 month | +4.74% |
| 1 year | -5.71% |
| 52-week low | $23.24 |
| 52-week high | $55.85 – $56.46 |
The fund trades at a negative price-to-book ratio, which reflects the cyclical nature of the sector and the heavy capex (capital expenditure) cycles tied to machines and energy. Daily volume remains modest, with approximately 3,700 shares traded on September 18, 2026 and a three-month average of 6,441 shares. On the flow side, the picture is mixed: over the past year, cumulative net inflows reached approximately $6.79M, but the last three months posted outflows of $3.05M and the last six months near-zero flows (+$145,960).
MNRS distributes a semi-annual dividend of $0.162885 per share as of December 31, 2025, payable on January 7, 2026, for an annualized yield of roughly 0.93%. With 330,000 shares outstanding and AUM (assets under management) of about $12.46M, the fund remains a niche vehicle that is not widely covered by major European brokerage platforms, which may limit retail access and add friction on execution.
Risks, Morningstar rating and outlook
Morningstar assigns MNRS a negative quantitative Medalist rating, indicating that the statistical model does not expect risk-adjusted outperformance versus peers across a full market cycle. This reading reflects the structural volatility of miners, whose margins depend directly on the bitcoin price, network hashrate (total computing power securing the network) and electricity costs.
“An increase in the price of bitcoin can lead to higher revenues and gross margins for the bitcoin mining industry.”
Grayscale, official MNRS documentation
The main risks for investors are:
- High correlation with the bitcoin price (elevated beta)
- Exposure to post-halving hashrate expansion (a scheduled event that halves miner rewards), which compresses unit margins
- Sector concentration and dependency on a small number of holdings
- Sensitivity to energy costs and mining regulation (China-era bans, local moratoriums, carbon taxation)
- Limited secondary liquidity (~3,700 shares per day) and the risk of spread widening during stress events
On the catalyst side, network easing (a post-halving hashrate drop), a sharp rally in the bitcoin price or favorable sector consolidation (mergers, balance-sheet restructurings) could support performance. Conversely, a renewed BTC bear cycle would quickly weigh on miner margins and valuations. The partial diversification of the fund, through NVIDIA and Block, may offer a slight buffer in case of a sector-specific mining shock, without neutralizing the directional BTC exposure.
Conclusion: a directional BTC vehicle to handle with care
The Grayscale Bitcoin Miners ETF (MNRS) is designed for investors seeking equity-market exposure to bitcoin without holding BTC directly, accepting elevated volatility and high sector concentration. The negative Morningstar rating nonetheless warrants caution on a long horizon: in a scenario of sustained bitcoin appreciation above previous highs, the fund could outperform thanks to the operating leverage of miners, but a prolonged BTC consolidation or a new bear cycle would quickly weigh on margins and valuations.
For European and Swiss investors, access to MNRS depends on the broker and on USD hedging availability, since the fund is listed in New York. Alternatives exist via European ETCs or ETFs that track miners, with simpler local tax treatment. The modest entry ticket ($37.63 per share), contained fees (0.59%) and dividend yield (~0.93% annualized) remain practical arguments, provided position sizing matches one’s crypto risk tolerance and USD currency exposure.
Sources
- MarketWatch – MNRS
- ETF Database – MNRS
- Robinhood – MNRS
- Morningstar – MNRS
- Grayscale – MNRS
- Coinbase – MNRS
This article is published for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice. Do your own research (DYOR) before making any decision.
