BlackRock has launched the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) on Nasdaq, bringing spot Ether exposure and staking income into one exchange-traded product. That is the key distinction. Earlier spot Ether ETFs did not include a staking feature, while ETHB is designed to let investors hold ETH exposure and collect staking rewards at the same time.
On its first trading day, ETHB exchanged 592,804 shares and recorded $15.5 million in volume. The fund debuted with $106.7 million in net assets. BlackRock said the portfolio is structured with roughly 80% in staked Ether and 20% in liquid Ether, a split that supports both yield generation and day-to-day fund operations.
Staking becomes part of the ETF wrapper
ETHB is built to do more than track the price of Ether. The fund stakes part of its ETH onchain, locking tokens into the Ethereum network to earn validator rewards. Analyst James Seyffart wrote on X that the ETF invests in and stakes Ether with the aim of generating yield, and the product is targeting an annual return of about 4%.
The validator set is handled by Figment, Galaxy Digital, and Attestant, while custody is provided by Coinbase. That setup places staking operations, custody, and fund management into separate institutional roles, giving ETHB a structure that fits more cleanly inside the framework traditional ETF investors already know.
Fee cut to 0.12% for the first year
BlackRock set ETHB’s sponsor fee at 0.25%, then added a one-year waiver that reduces the cost to 0.12% on the first $2.5 billion in assets. The fee schedule mirrors the structure used for the firm’s earlier iShares Ethereum Trust ETF, ETHA. The pricing suggests BlackRock is keeping a consistent playbook across its crypto ETF lineup rather than treating ETHB as a separate experiment.
ETHB now sits alongside BlackRock’s other crypto funds, including the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) and ETHA. Data cited from Farside Investors shows IBIT has brought in $62.8 billion since 2024, while ETHA has attracted $11.9 billion. BlackRock is also planning to expand into Bitcoin income products, including a Bitcoin Premium Income ETF that would generate returns through covered call options.
Opening volume trails Solana staking ETF peers
ETHB’s first-day trading activity came in below comparable staking ETF launches tied to Solana. The source material lists $55.4 million in volume for the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) and $33.7 million for the REX-Osprey SOL + Staking ETF (SSK). By that measure, ETHB did not lead the segment on debut.
Still, the product adds a new structure to the regulated crypto ETF market: price exposure and blockchain staking rewards in a single listed vehicle. For BlackRock, that fills a gap left by the first wave of spot Ether ETFs. For investors using brokerage accounts, ETHB turns a native onchain yield mechanism into an ETF format that trades on a traditional exchange.