US Ether ETFs Turn One – And They’re Just Hitting Their Stride
Wall Street's crypto experiment matures as ETH funds find their footing.
From Awkward Adolescence to Institutional Darling
A year after launch, these regulated crypto vehicles finally look like they belong in the big leagues. Trading volumes tick up while traditional finance skeptics eat crow.
The Quiet Revolution
No fireworks—just steady growth as asset managers quietly stack ETH behind the scenes. Proof you can teach old dogs new tricks (if those tricks print management fees).
What Took So Damn Long?
Twelve months to 'hit stride' shows how painfully slow TradFi adapts—meanwhile, DeFi protocols iterate faster than hedge funds change their thesis.
One year in: The suits finally figured out how to buy Ethereum without saying 'blockchain' at cocktail parties.
Because we mentioned staking before, we should note that various asset managers have filed with the SEC to allow their ether ETFs to stake a portion of the underlying holdings. BlackRock joined that movement last week, and the world’s largest asset manager typically gets what it wants from the SEC — perhaps because of clout, or knowing when the regulator is ready to approve its proposals. Maybe both.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce asked for patience in the SEC greenlighting modifications such as staking and in-kind creations and redemptions. Still, a number of segment observers expect those approvals are imminent.
Investors remain underweight ether ETFs, Hougan wrote in his memo. While ETH has a market cap that’s roughly 20% of bitcoin’s, ETH ETPs have just 12% of the assets that BTC products do.
“With all the excitement surrounding stablecoins and tokenization — which are primarily built on Ethereum — we think that will change, and that we’ll see billions in flows in the next few months,” Hougan added.
As for the next crypto ETFs we expect to see, there was movement yesterday. Sort of.
The SEC approved Bitwise’s crypto index fund proposal. But like it did with the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC), the order was stayed. This perhaps signals the regulator will wait to roll out a comprehensive framework — about including digital assets in the ETF wrapper — before letting these convert to ETFs and list.
Oh, and also: 21Shares filed for an ONDO ETF yesterday. The Ondo name should ring a bell, as we’ve talked about them getting set to launch a tokenization platform (here’s my Q&A with Ondo CEO Nathan Allman from last month).
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