A day after the SEC’s approval of the S-1 submission for Spot Ethereum ETF, Blackrock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF has gone live for trading with the ETHA share now trading at $26.59 as of the opening bell.
BlackRock Promotes Ethereum ETF Launch
On Monday, July 12, BlackRock released a statement stating that the SEC has granted the registration of their spot Ethereum ETF and the ETHA shares will now track Ethereum’s native token ETH.
The BlackRock Ethereum ETF carries a 0.25% sponsor fee while offering a one-year waiver and a fee reduction of 0.12% on the first $2.5 billion in assets under management. Thus, BlackRock is pitching a direct competition with the Grayscale Ethereum Mini-Trust which carries a sponsor fee of 0.15%. Jay Jacobs, the U.S. Head of Thematic and Active ETFs for BlackRock said:
“Our clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital assets through exchange-traded products (ETPs) which provide convenient access, liquidity and transparency. Ethereum’s appeal lies in its decentralized nature and its potential to drive digital transformation in finance and other industries.”
With more than $10 trillion in assets under manager, BlackRock is the largest asset manager globally. Thus, with them launching the Ethereum ETF, more institutional money will flow over time into the asset class. The BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) has witnessed massive success in the first six months of launch, with over $19.5 billion in inflows and over $22 billion in assets under management.
Also Read: Grayscale & Bitwise Ethereum ETF Gets SEC Nod For NYSE Trading
What to Expect on Day 1?
The spot Bitcoin ETFs collective saw nearly $5 billion in trading volumes on the first day of launch. Also, the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF took just over a week’s time to cross over $1 billion in AUM. Thus, it would be difficult to predict the BlackRock Ethereum ETF on the first day of launch.
However, investor excitement seems to be gaining strength. The Ethereum price has recovered back above $3,500 at press time but it will be interesting to see what happens by the end of the first day of Ether ETF trading on Wall Street.
Some market analysts believe that ETF approval will be a sell-the-news event just as what happened with Bitcoin in January. However, the market will eventually pick up pace going ahead.
Also Read: Ethereum Price Set To Outperform Bitcoin As SEC Approves ETH ETF Trading