BlackRock's ETH Staking ETF Launches with Solid Trading Volume

BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) launched on Thursday and saw $15.5 million in trading volume, with 592,804 shares changing hands on Nasdaq. This marks a 'very, very solid' debut for an ETF launch, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.

The fund holds a mix of staked Ethereum (80%) and unstaked Ethereum (20%), with Coinbase serving as custodian. It launched with $106.7 million in net assets and charges a 0.25% sponsor fee, reduced to 0.12% on the first $2.5 billion in assets under management for the first year.

Staking rewards will be distributed monthly, sourced from Ethereum network validators operated by Figment, Galaxy Digital, and Bitwise-owned Attestant. This approach gives traditional investment vehicles access to on-chain yield without requiring direct interaction with blockchain infrastructure, targeting a staking yield of around 4% annually.