Following the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January, the SEC also approved spot Ethereum ETFs in May.
However, Ethereum ETFs have still not lived up to expectations and continue to see weak inflows compared to Bitcoin ETFs.
While some analysts expect this to change soon, BlackRock does not expect this to change anytime soon.
Speaking at the Messari Mainnet conference in New York, BlackRock head of digital assets Robert Mitchnick said the performance of BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF (ETHA) has been disappointing so far, compared to its Bitcoin ETF.
Stating that the trading volume and capital inflow of Ethereum ETFs are much lower compared to Bitcoin ETFs and that this situation will not change in the near future, Mitchnick said that Ethereum is less preferred as an investment asset compared to Bitcoin.
“I think the investment story and narrative of ETH is a little bit harder to understand for many investors compared to Bitcoin. That’s why we educate many of our clients on that.”
Mitchnick noted that they do not expect Ethereum ETFs to be as large as their Bitcoin counterparts in terms of flows and AUM, but said they are still off to a pretty good start.
Finally, comparing ETHA to other ETH ETFs, Mitchnick said, “It’s very rare for an ETF like ETHA to reach $1 billion in assets under management in seven weeks. In most cases, new ETFs take years to reach $1 billion. This is a great achievement for ETHA.”
*This is not investment advice.