Ethereum ETFs have hit the scene with a lot of noise, but what’s the real story here? These funds kicked off in the U.S. a month ago, and investors have already yanked out $465 million from the nine ETFs that launched.
That sounds like a rough start, right? But look, if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see it’s not all bad. There’s more to this than just a massive cash exodus.
BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) just blew past $1 billion in net inflows, making it the seventh most successful ETF launch this year.
Fidelity’s Advantage Ether ETF and the Bitwise Ethereum ETF are also doing alright for themselves, with $390 million and $312 million in inflows, respectively.
So, what’s the catch? Why does it seem like money is pouring out, yet these funds are stacking up cash? Let me break it down for you.
The massive outflows everyone’s screaming about? That’s mostly because of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE). This isn’t some new kid on the block.
ETHE was sold to investors back in 2017 and started trading publicly in 2019. But it wasn’t an ETF back then, it was this clunky trust format that didn’t really appeal to everyone.
Fast forward to July, and boom, Grayscale tries to repackage it as an ETF. But there was a twist: BlackRock and a bunch of others dropped their new, shiny ETFs at the same time.
And guess what? Grayscale’s fees are way higher. So yeah, investors are bailing out of ETHE, looking for cheaper, newer options. That’s why we’re seeing this big movement of money.
But strip away all that Grayscale drama, and you get a different picture. If you ignore the money flying out of Grayscale, investors have actually put over $2 billion into the other Ethereum ETFs in just the first five weeks.
Nate Geraci, the ETF Store’s president, says this shows investors still want a piece of the Ethereum pie.
“Over $2 billion has been purposefully allocated to the other spot ether ETFs. Not as flashy as Bitcoin ETFs, but spot ether ETFs have had a solid first month, and I think this will keep going.”
Geraci also says those big outflows from Grayscale are messing up the whole picture.””We just don’t know why people are dumping ETHE,” he says. It’s like trying to read tea leaves. Too many variables, not enough facts.
So, while we’re watching all this money move around, it’s tough to really say how strong the demand is for these new funds. Investors could be jumping ship for all sorts of reasons.