Glassnode, a prominent crypto analytics company, has released a report revealing that investors in Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered by asset management giants BlackRock and Fidelity Investments are currently dealing with considerable losses.
According to the Glassnode report from May 29, “The typical investor in the Ethereum ETFs from BlackRock and Fidelity is now notably in the red on their investment, with an average unrealized loss of approximately -21%.”
At present, Ether (ETHUSD) is trading at $2,601, as per data from CoinMarketCap. In contrast, the cost basis of BlackRock’s spot Ether ETF stands at $3,300, while Fidelity’s is slightly higher at $3,500.
Glassnode’s report highlights that the last time Ether traded above $3,000 was on February 2, before the crypto faced a downturn following the implementation of import tariffs on goods from China, Canada, and Mexico by then US President Donald Trump.
Glassnode further noted, “Net outflows started to speed up when the spot price fell below this average ETF investor cost-basis level in August 2024, and again in January and March 2025.” Ether hit its annual low of $1,472 on April 9, the very day when Trump’s comprehensive global tariffs came into effect.
Despite this, Ether has seen a 44.25% increase over the past month, and spot Ether ETFs have recorded nine straight days of inflows totaling $435.6 million since May 16, suggesting that the trade war concerns are starting to lose steam.
Since the launch of spot Ether ETFs in the US in July 2024, they have logged $2.94 billion in total inflows. On their launch day, Ether was trading around $3,536.
Glassnode also revealed that the ETFs had a minimal effect on Ether’s spot price, stating, “The Ethereum ETFs initially represented just ±1.5% of the trade volume in spot markets, indicating a rather tepid reception at launch.”
However, they experienced a period of stronger growth in November 2024, where the measure increased to over 2.5% – a rise in tandem with Trump’s election victory and a subsequent month-long crypto market rally that saw Ether peak at $4,007 on Dec. 8.
The report concluded with a note that Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, mentioned at the Digital Asset Summit on March 20 that the spot Ether ETF is “less perfect” without staking.
Disclaimer: This article does not provide investment advice or recommendations. Investing and trading involve risk, and readers should conduct their own research before making any decisions.
