Spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) inflows surpassed $2 billion in nearly four weeks, when excluding Grayscale’s ETHE outflows of nearly $2.5 billion, based on Farside Investors’ data.
ETF Store CEO Nate Geraci highlighted that if this cumulative value is considered under one ETF, it would equate to the fourth-largest ETF launch to date.
The three other ETF launches besting the cumulative Ethereum ETFs are all spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs: BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC, and ARK 21Shares’ ARKB.
Geraci added:
“On its own, iShares Ethereum ETF = top 7 ETF launch.”
Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas shared that the ETFs’ year-to-date flows have reached $911 billion globally. The $17 billion in net flows registered by US-traded spot crypto ETFs represent nearly 2% of the total global flows.
Notably, IBIT is the third-largest ETF by inflows, inching closer to $20.5 billion. FBTC also ranks among the largest funds, with nearly $10 billion in inflows.
Ethereum ETFs lagging
Despite breaching the $2 billion mark in cumulative inflows, spot Ethereum ETFs’ performance is still lagging behind that of their Bitcoin counterparts.
Bitfinex analysts attribute this to Ethereum’s overall weak performance over the past few weeks, with the crypto down 40% in the past month.
Jump Crypto, Wintermute, and Flow Traders have sold 130,000 ETH cumulatively since the Ethereum ETFs were launched. Additionally, the macroeconomic landscape was recently shaken by the sharp interest rate hike in Japan, which dampened the risk appetite in the market.
Aurelie Barthere, Principal Research Analyst at Nansen, also shared with CryptoSlate that the crypto market’s sell-off in March resulted in significant realized losses, especially for traders engaged in multiple crypto narratives.
Furthermore, a second sell-off between July and August happened and shone a light on a growing correlation with equities. This has further pressured Ether amid solid but slowing US growth and stretched valuations in traditional risk assets like US equities.