Spot Ethereum ETFs have had a challenging journey, especially with ETH underperforming in this cycle.
Roughly a year ago, the United States financial market witnessed the debut of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The products have enabled investors to have regulated exposure to the second-largest cryptocurrency without holding it.
The past twelve months have been eventful for spot Ethereum ETFs – from a slow start with minimal inflows to outflows and now massive positive flows. Regardless of the state of these products, they have played a significant role in driving institutional crypto adoption since their inception.
As reported by CryptoPotato at the time of the launch, the nine products collectively recorded $106 million in positive flows on their first day. Over $484 million in outflows from Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust (ETHE) greatly influenced the inflows.
BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF (ETHA) took the lead on the first day with $266 million inflows and is still leading currently. Bitwise’s ETHW followed suit with $204 million, while Fidelity’s FETH raked in $71 million. Funds from other asset managers, including 21Shares, Invesco, VanEck, and Franklin Templeton, recorded inflows ranging from $13 million to $7.5 million.
Comparing the most recent trading day to the debut of spot Ethereum ETFs, it is clear that these funds have made significant progress. On Friday, July 18, the ETFs collectively raked in inflows surpassing $402 million. Interestingly, that figure is not the highest the market has seen.
On July 16, spot Ethereum ETFs amassed over $726 million in positive flows, marking their highest ever, according to data from CoinGlass. The next day, the products recorded their second-largest daily inflow of $602 million. These funds have been on an 11-day inflow streak since July 5, amassing over $2.8 billion in flows. BlackRock remains the leader in assets under management (AUM), with a total of $7.92 billion. Following suit is ETHE, with $3.46 billion in AUM.
It is worth mentioning that the journey has been tedious for spot Ethereum ETFs, especially with ether performing poorly in this cycle. After a solid first day, the following trading days were worrisome for the ETFs. Outflows abounded, and investors were not buying as much ETH as expected.
As Grayscale’s Trust continued to see outflows, flows into other products could not catch up. This trend continued, with the funds collectively recording a few days of inflows, until mid-November when the ETFs began what would later become an 18-day inflow streak. Notably, the funds have broken that record with a 19-day positive flow streak that ended on June 12.
As investors continue to invest heavily in ETH currently, it remains to be seen what the next 12 months have in store for spot Ethereum ETFs.
