BlackRock’s Staked Ethereum ETF Generates Yield but Lags Behind Its Larger ETHA Fund

BlackRock offers two U.S. spot Ethereum exchange‑traded funds (ETFs): the original iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), which holds ether without staking, and the newer iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB), which stakes a portion of its holdings and passes a share of the rewards to investors.

Asset size and trading activity

As of September 11, ETHA reported about $8.96 billion in net assets, while ETHB held roughly $1.05 billion. The disparity extends to secondary‑market activity: ETHA’s estimated share turnover was $1.86 billion, about thirty times the $61.8 million turnover for ETHB.

Investor flows

On the same day, ETHA attracted $148.8 million of net inflows, compared with $18.3 million for ETHB. Both funds recorded inflows on September 9 and 11, but ETHA’s inflows were consistently larger.

Yield and fee structure

ETHB began earning staking rewards in May and listed a distribution of $0.036487 per share payable on September 10. About 75.85 % of its ether was staked as of September 10, with the remainder kept unstaked for liquidity. ETHB charges the same 0.25 % annual sponsor fee as ETHA, temporarily reduced to 0.12 % on the first $2.5 billion of assets, plus a staking fee of 10 % of gross staking rewards.

Liquidity considerations

ETHA’s 30‑day median bid‑ask spread was 0.05 %, slightly tighter than ETHB’s 0.06 %. However, ETHA’s larger trading volume gives institutions greater capacity to enter and exit positions. ETHB’s prospectus allows delayed or cash‑only redemptions if staking exit times constrain liquidity.

Outlook

For ETHB to shift the competitive balance, it would need sustained creations accompanied by ETHA redemptions, demonstrating a clear investor preference for yield‑bearing exposure despite higher complexity and fees.