Most investors in spot Ether exchange-traded funds from asset managers BlackRock and Fidelity Investments are facing significant losses, according to crypto analytics firm Glassnode.
“The average investor in the BlackRock and Fidelity Ethereum ETFs are now substantially underwater on their position, holding an unrealized loss of approximately -21% on average,” Glassnode said in its May 29 report.
Ether (ETH) is currently trading at $2,601, according to CoinMarketCap data. However, BlackRock’s spot Ether ETF has a cost basis of $3,300, while Fidelity’s is higher at $3,500.
Funds dropped on Trump tariffs
The last time Ether was trading above $3,000 was Feb. 2, before entering a downtrend after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose import tariffs on goods from China, Canada, and Mexico.
“We can see that net outflows begin to accelerate when the spot price dropped below this average ETF investor cost-basis level in August 2024 and January and March of 2025,” the firm added.
Ether hit its yearly low of $1,472 on April 9, the same day Trump’s sweeping global tariffs came into effect. However, Ether has climbed 44.25% over the past month, and spot Ether ETFs have recorded nine consecutive days of inflows totaling $435.6 million since May 16, as the trade war uncertainty has begun to cool down.
Some analysts anticipate more uptrend for the crypto market after a US federal court blocked most of Trump’s tariffs on May 28.
Since spot Ether ETFs launched in the US in July 2024, they have recorded $2.94 billion in total inflows. On their July 23 launch, Ether was trading at approximately $3,536.
Meanwhile, Glassnode suggested the ETFs have had little impact on Ether’s spot price. “The Ethereum ETFs initially accounted for just ±1.5% of the trade volume in spot markets, suggesting a relatively lukewarm reception on launch,” it said.
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Glassnode said the ETFs experienced a period of stronger growth in November 2024, where the measure increased to over 2.5%.
This coincided with Trump winning the US presidential election during the same month, the entire crypto market entered a month-long rally that saw Ether reach $4,007 on Dec. 8.
The measure has since declined back toward 1.5%, Glassnode said.
On March 20 at the Digital Asset Summit, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, Robbie Mitchnick, noted that the spot Ether ETF is “less perfect” without staking.
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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
