ETHA Dominates ETHB as Investors Prioritize Liquidity Over Staking Rewards

When Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) launched in July 2024 without staking, many investors raised concerns about losing out on rewards. Now, BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) offers a test of whether adding yield would change investor behavior.

BlackRock's ETHA fund, which provides straightforward exposure to ether without staking, has consistently attracted more assets and trading activity than ETHB. As of September 11, ETHA held about $8.96 billion in net assets, compared to ETHB's roughly $1.05 billion. In secondary-market trading, ETHA generated an estimated $1.86 billion of share turnover that day, roughly 30 times ETHB's $61.8 million.

Despite distributing staking rewards since May, ETHB has not yet seen a significant migration of assets from ETHA. The fund's distribution feature is conditional and subject to various factors, including staking consideration received, legal requirements, and the fund's operational and liquidity needs.