Simply put
- BlackRock’s ETHB fund will distribute 82% of staking rewards to investors via monthly payments.
- In contrast, Grayscale, its main rival, passes on 94% of fees through mini-ETFs and 77% via its ETHE fund.
- ETHB is the third US Ethereum staking product launched after Grayscale and REX-Osprey beat BlackRock to the market.
BlackRock is set to launch the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust on Nasdaq on Thursday morning. Before its debut, the company announced details about the product.
The new exchange-traded product, known as ETHB, will allocate 82% of staking rewards to investors monthly, quite similar to how dividends are typically paid. The remaining 18% will be divided among the trust, its custodian, and the staking service provider.
The ETHB fund plans to invest between 70-95% in Ethereum “at any time,” according to the company’s prospectus.
This product is part of BlackRock’s range of digital asset exchange trading offerings, including the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), launched in January 2024, and the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), which was introduced in July 2024.
Jay Jacobs, head of U.S. equities at BlackRock, mentioned he expects a shift of funds from ETHA to ETHB.
He described ETHA, which has been around for about two years and has $6.5 billion in assets, as “very liquid.” He added that it has a robust options market, making it attractive to many investors, though some may hesitate to invest in a fund focused on ETH.
Nevertheless, Jacobs believes there will be some movement toward ETHB since most Ethereum investors are likely interested in staking.
“I suspect we’ll see a significant transition from those who directly own ETH to ETHB,” he noted. Investors who own ETH and engage in staking might not see other ETP solutions as directly comparable. But with ETHB offering staking now, it might seem more aligned with their expectations from owning ETH directly.”
BlackRock has chosen Coinbase and Anchorage Digital to serve as custodians. An amendment to the fund’s prospectus, filed on March 9, revealed that Coinbase would take 10% of all staking rewards as a “base staking fee.” If the fund reaches $20 billion in assets, this fee will decrease to 6%.
Currently, the fund has approved Figment Inc., Galaxy Blockchain Infrastructure LLC, and London-based Attestant Limited as validators.
A recent SEC correction stated that Coinbase would handle the initial review of “approved validators” for ETH staking. BlackRock has also stipulated that validators should not “mix or pool” their ETH with other assets and must keep separate key pairs tied solely to ETH belonging to the fund.
Grayscale remains BlackRock’s leading competitor, issuing the Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE) and the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust under the ETH ticker.
In its filings, Grayscale announced that 94% of rewards earned would go to Ethereum Mini Trust investors, while 77% would benefit ETHE investors. Interestingly, ETHE carries a management fee of 2.5%, much higher than the 0.25% rate that BlackRock charges for ETHB after the initial 0.12% fee expires.
Meanwhile, the Grayscale Mini Ethereum Trust charges a more competitive management fee of 0.15%.
Both companies have faced competition from the REX-Osprey ETH+ staking ETF, which launched for US investors in September 2025. This fund takes a different approach by combining elements of a fund of funds with staking and charges a 0.75% management fee while returning all staking rewards to investors. As of now, around 13.7% of its assets are allocated to Ethereum.
The remaining $1.6 million from the fund has been distributed between WisdomTree Physical Ethereum and CoinShares Ethereum Staking ETP.
