Ether ETFs Have Bled Money, but That's Not the Whole Story

• At first glance, spot ether ETFs appear to have bled money, but it's more complicated than that.
• BlackRock's ETHA was the seventh-most-successful ETF launch this year with over a billion dollars worth of inflows. Other ether funds have seen brisk demand as well.
• Grayscale's ETHE product lost billions, offsetting the overall success of the funds.

The headline could easily be this: Recently launched ether exchange-traded funds have been a dud.

After all, investors have removed $465 million of assets in total from the nine funds that began trading in the U.S. a month ago.

Dig a little deeper and you'll find success, however.

BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) just passed $1 billion of net inflows, making it the seventh-most-successful ETF launch this year, according to Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store. Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund and the Bitwise Ethereum ETF have taken in $390 million and $312 million, respectively, according to data from Farside Investors.

But back to the overall removal of money, which stems from the billions of dollars yanked from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE). That product was first sold to investors in 2017 and began trading publicly in 2019 – albeit in a less-appealing trust format. It was turned into an ETF in July as new funds from the likes of BlackRock sprung into existence.

The Grayscale product features a much higher fee for investors, meaning many might want to shift to a cheaper fund. Exclude the massive Grayscale outflows and investors have allocated over $2 billion to the other funds in the first five weeks.

“The fact that over $2 billion has been purposefully allocated to the other spot ether ETFs is a good sign as it shows that investors want ether exposure,” Geraci said. “While not the dazzling debut we saw from spot bitcoin ETFs, I think spot ether ETFs have clearly had a successful first month and I expect this to continue.”

In regards to Grayscale, Geraci believes that the outflows muddy the waters and make it difficult to get a clear picture of how much demand there is for the funds. “We simply don’t know all of the underlying motivations of ETHE sellers, which is why I think it’s important to look beyond that product.”

Demand is likely to continue and grow over the next few months, said Sui Chung, CEO of index provider CF Benchmarks. He predicts that more wealth managers will offer the products to their clients.

“We anticipate flows into ETH ETFs will continue to climb once wealth managers and financial advisors complete the education process for what ETH is, its utility and why they should hold it alongside their BTC ETF,” he said. “The educational process will expose investors to the Ethereum economy and highlight its key differences to Bitcoin, making it abundantly clear that the allocation drivers are different and both belong in a balanced investment portfolio.”

Spot bitcoin ETFs, which began trading in January, have seen nearly $18 billion in inflows. Investors have allocated roughly $20 billion into BlackRock’s product, which is mostly offset by $17 billion worth of outflows out of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), another Grayscale fund that existed for years as a trust before converting to an ETF this year.