This week, spot Ethereum ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) were officially approved and launched, filling the crypto community with excitement about the latest industry milestone. The ETH-based investment products saw an impressive first day, reaching over $1 billion in volume. Following its second day live, some experts shared that the ETFs’ day two volume was higher than expected.
Spot Ethereum ETFs Surpass Expectations
On Monday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the final nod to spot Ethereum ETFs, setting the launch date to Tuesday, July 23. Before the launch, Industry figures and experts debated the expectations for the ETH ETFs compared to their Bitcoin (BTC) counterparts.
Many considered that the Ethereum-based products would only do about 20%-30% of Bitcoin ETFs. Katherine Dowling, Bitwise’s CCO, highlighted that the highly anticipated ETFs were a “more nuance sell” than BTC’s. This opinion has been shared by others, including American entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano.
The BTC bull recently stated that Ethereum’s story isn’t “as clear” as Bitcoin’s “digital gold” narrative. To Pompliano, this translated to a significant decrease in attention and interest from traditional investors and the media.
After the launch, spot ETH ETFs met experts’ expectations. The second-crypto investment products made about $1.05 billion in volume on its first day, accounting for 24% of what spot BTC ETFs did on day one.
According to Bloomberg expert Eric Balchunas, the new eight ETH ETFs took in $590 million on its first day, representing 83% of what the nine new BTC ETFs did on its first day. This number was a “huge” start for the investment products and surpassed Balchunas expectations.
Despite the massive $484 million outflows from Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust (ETHE), the ETH ETFs registered $107.8 million in inflows on its first day, led by Blackrock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) and Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) respective inflows of $266.5 million and $204 million.
Second-Day Volume Surprises, But Outflows Steal The Show
On its second day, Ethereum ETFs continued to surprise experts. Balchunas pointed out that some ETFs did “about as much or even a little more volume” than the first day. To the expert, this performance suggests a good sign since “a lot of times there’s a sizable dropoff after hyped-up Day One.”
Bitwises’ president, Teddy Fusaro, shared on X that by half the second trading day, the Ethereum ETFs had “traded about $852 million in value”. In comparison, its Bitcoin counterparts had traded about $1.1 billion.
Fusaro expressed surprise about the number. He stressed that “ETH ETFs are trading about 75% of the notional value of BTC ETFs today,” which was higher than expected. James Seyffart shared a similar opinion, stating that he was “Genuinely surprised by this.”
Nonetheless, Day Two closed its net flow on red numbers. According to Farside Investors’ provisional data, ETH ETFs saw outflows worth around $133.3 million. ETHE registered $326.9 million in outflows, which weighted down the positive net flows from the rest of the Ethereum ETFs.
Per the data, ETHA and ETHW saw significantly lower numbers on Wednesday, attracting only $17.4 million and $29.6 million in net inflows. However, Fidelity’s FETH, VanEck’s ETHV, and Grayscale’s Mini Trust increased their numbers on the second day, with $74.5 million, $19.8 million, and $45.9 million, respectively.
Ultimately, experts consider that Ethereum ETFs’ launch was “very solid” despite registering a 5% volume drop on its second day. Compared to a standard ETF launch, the second crypto-based investment products have exceeded expectations, ranking among the top 10% ETF launches in the last year.
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