BlackRock’s new hedged ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund got off to a solid start Friday, pulling in more than $15 million in trading volume on its first day as Wall Street begins experimenting with yield-generating crypto ETFs.
The iShares Staked Ethereum Trust, which trades under the ticker ETHB, launched with just over $100 million in assets and had already seen about $11 million in trading by early afternoon, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. By the late session, trading volume had risen to around $15.5 million, indicating strong initial demand for the product.
Those numbers are considered strong for an ETF launch, market observers say.
“BlackRock’s Staked Ether ETF launched with just over $100 million in assets and has traded around $11.1 million through early afternoon,” Seyffart said at X, calling it “a pretty good start for any ETF.”
The product marks a significant development in crypto exchange-traded funds. Unlike traditional spot crypto ETFs that simply track the underlying asset, ETHB will generate returns by staking ethereum and distribute most of the reward back to investors. Staking refers to locking coins into a cryptocurrency network in exchange for rewards. This is almost analogous to investing in fixed income instruments such as bonds.
According to the prospectus, the fund will own between 70% and 95% of its ether holdings at any given time. About 82% of the stake reward will be paid out to investors through monthly distributions, similar to how dividend-paying ETFs distribute income.
The remaining 18% will be distributed between the trust, custodians and investment service providers.
The fund charges a 0.25% sponsorship fee, although BlackRock is offering a temporary discount of 0.12% on the first $2.5 billion in assets as it seeks to attract early investors. The ETF’s launch also arrives at a time when ether itself is trying to stabilize after a prolonged downturn.
ETH recently regained the $2,000 level after finding strong demand around the $1,700-$1,800 range, a zone traders had been watching closely after months of sustained selling pressure.
Some analysts say the debut of betting ETFs could be part of what helps change market sentiment.
“Ethereum has just regained the psychological $2,000 level after a punishing structural downturn, finding a bid in the $1,700-$1,800 demand zone,” Wenny Cai, COO at Synfutures, said in a Telegram announcement.
“The key mechanic right now is the reversal of an approximately $4 billion ETH outflow cycle, catalyzed in the last 48 hours by BlackRock’s launch of the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust,” Cai added.
ETHB is the latest addition to BlackRock’s growing digital asset ETF lineup. The firm already operates the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which launched in January 2024 and quickly became the dominant bitcoin ETF, as well as the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), which was introduced in July 2024.
Ethereum’s staking mechanism allows holders to lock ETH to help secure the network in exchange for rewards, effectively creating a crypto-native dividend. By packaging returns inside an ETF wrapper, firms like BlackRock are trying to make the structure accessible to traditional investors who can’t easily participate directly in the chain.
If stake ETFs gain traction, they could open the door to similar structures across other proof-of-stake networks — potentially turning crypto ETFs from passive exposure instruments to income-generating financial instruments.
