Far behind the giants backed by Bitcoin, Ethereum ETFs still had a card to play. And the last few weeks seem to be proving them right. The $4 billion net flow threshold has been crossed, in a market that, visibly, has not yet said its last word. The mechanism is well known: the more an asset becomes democratized, the more financial products backed by it explode. And Ethereum, despite its existential doubts, is once again attracting the spotlight.
In the Ethereum ETF match, BlackRock decided not to play small. Its fund iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) shows $5.31 billion in gross inflows. Opposite, Grayscale and its two products (ETHE, ETH) are struggling with a cumulative $4.28 billion outflow since ETF conversion.
The strategy? Simple, but deadly. BlackRock and Fidelity offer management fees of 0.25%, when Grayscale remains stuck at 2.5%. A gap that hurts, especially in a period of aggressive institutional flows. “Wealth managers don’t want to pay for the old guard anymore,” notes a CoinShares analyst.
And then there’s the tactical momentum: flows accelerated starting May 30, marking a real turning point. Over $160 million absorbed on June 11 alone, and five days with more than $100 million in 15 sessions. It’s not a euphoric surge, but a steady, almost surgical rise.
The paradox is that Ethereum as a blockchain seems to be in an identity crisis. Its price has dropped 25% since January, and the failure of the post-ETF approval “momentum” remains a thorn in the side. The CEO of DYOR sums it up:
After the initial approval of the ETH ETF without a price spike, institutional investors began to build positions quietly.
Translation? No hype, but strategic positioning.
Circle’s successful IPO, the resurgence around stablecoins, and the restructuring of the Ethereum Foundation give a breath of fresh air. But Solana looms. And Ethereum ecosystem revenues have been down since its last technical update. Proof that the perceived value of the infrastructure remains fragile, even though some see beyond the short term.
“The market looks like an electrocardiogram, but buyers are betting on the infrastructure,” adds Ben Kurland.
A phrase that sums up this stage well: volatile in the short term, promising fundamentally.
While Ethereum is strengthening, Bitcoin is soaring. BTC ETFs total $46.7 billion in net inflows, compared to barely $4 billion for ETH. The gap is wide, but beware: the dynamic could shift. For nine consecutive days, Bitcoin ETFs have still recorded positive flows. But the gap is closing.
The latest alert? On June 21, Ethereum faced a $19.7 million withdrawal on ETHA, but paradoxically, overall inflows this month remain positive: $840 million net since early June. And this despite ETH falling below $2,400.
Some key numbers to remember:
Is this catch-up sustainable? Maybe. The next hot point: declarations from major asset managers in mid-July (13F filings). If they also put ETH in their long-term portfolios, the curve could reverse.
Statistics around Bitcoin, Ethereum, and their ETFs increasingly interest governments. Japan recently even considers a tax reform favorable to digital assets and opening up to crypto ETFs. This could offer calmer skies to a sector still shaken by volatility, but whose foundations are strengthening step by step.
