BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm, is launching its new staked Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF), which begins trading Thursday, March 12, on the Nasdaq.
The fund, called the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB), is the asset manager’s third crypto ETF and the first one to incorporate staking.
As such, ETHB will hold spot Ethereum and stake a part of those holdings on the network, allowing investors to potentially earn staking rewards while benefiting from price movements.
“This is really about investor choice. While ETHA has developed liquidity and a growing derivatives market, some investors are focused on maximizing total returns by combining ether price exposure with staking rewards,” Jay Jacobs, the U.S. head of equity ETFs at BlackRock, told CoinDesk.
Coinbase will serve as the new fund’s custodian and staking provider. Validators, on the other hand, currently include Figment, Galaxy, and Attestant.
As for the fees, ETHB charges a 0.25% sponsor fee, though the firm is temporarily reducing the cost to 0.12% on the first $2.5 billion in assets for the first year, according to Jacobs.
What does BlackRock’s staked Ethereum ETF bring?
Since Ethereum operates on a proof-of-stake (PoS) system, holders can lock up their ETH holdings to help validate transactions and secure the network. In return, they receive rewards in the form of yields.
Until now, most Ethereum ETFs have provided only price exposure, not staking, with the exception of some providers, such as Grayscale, which recently launched a staking-enabled product.
BlackRock’s new fund thus aims to encourage more crypto-native investors to explore ETFs, offering them the usual advantages, such as institutional-grade custody, plus staking. In addition, the fund comes with a monthly dividend, adding a passive-income dimension to the product.
The potential market for the new ETF is thus wide, including retail traders, financial advisors, and institutional holders, with the primary appeal being the ability to gain exposure to the second-largest digital currency while capturing staking yield.
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