BlackRock iShares Ethereum Trust: BlackRock Non-Staking Ether ETF Holds $8.96B Edge Over Staking Version
BlackRock’s non-staking iShares Ethereum Trust leads its staking counterpart by a wide margin in assets and trading activity, showing that yield has not yet shifted investor preference.
BlackRock Non-Staking Ether ETF Holds $8.96B Edge Over Staking Version
BlackRock’s non-staking iShares Ethereum Trust reached about $8.96 billion in net assets on September 11 while its staking sibling sat at roughly $1.05 billion. That gap shows investors still favor straight ether exposure over the yield add-on.
The numbers line up with trading volume too. ETHA shares changed hands for about $1.86 billion that day. ETHB volume came in at just $61.8 million. The non-staking fund moved nearly thirty times more shares, keeping its liquidity lead intact.
Price action and chart signals
Ether itself printed at $2,513 on CoinGecko the following Monday. Bitcoin traded near $77,943, SOL at $101.92, and DOGE at $0.08711. The ETF price action reflected that spot level, with ETHA shares holding tighter spreads and deeper order books than the staking product.
Candles on the non-staking fund showed steady accumulation through the week. Redemptions stayed light while creations added $148.8 million in net flows. ETHB inflows landed at $18.3 million, a smaller slice that did not close the AUM distance.
Yield distribution versus liquidity
The staking version paid a $0.036487 per share distribution on September 10. That works out to a 30-day staking rewards rate near 1.52 percent. Even with the payout, secondary-market turnover stayed far below the non-staking fund, so the extra income has not pulled the majority of holdings yet.
Founder voice and structure choices
BlackRock structured the staking product to capture yield while keeping the original fund simple. The approach mirrors how some NFT projects separate core liquidity sleeves from yield-bearing variants. CryptoPunks collectors often kept their floor holdings unstaked or unlevered to preserve quick exit options, treating any added yield as secondary to the ability to move size without moving price.
The same pattern appears here. ETHA continues to draw the larger creations and the heavier daily volume, showing that straightforward exposure still wins when size and speed matter.
Market context on the day
Majors chopped in a narrow range that Monday. Alts ranged with limited follow-through. Spot ether held its level while perps stayed range-bound. The ETF data fit the same picture: ETHA absorbed the bulk of interest, ETHB remained the smaller satellite product.
BlackRock’s choice to run both vehicles side by side gives investors a clear test. So far the market has voted with its order flow for the version that skips the staking layer.
What the numbers mean going forward
Turnover and AUM gaps this wide rarely flip overnight. As long as ETHA keeps the deeper book and the larger creations, the staking add-on stays an option rather than the main vehicle. The chart and the flow data both point to the same conclusion for now.