TechFlow reports that following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) final approval of Ethereum ETFs, several prominent cryptocurrency firms are taking a cautious view on their first-day performance. Major market maker Wintermute forecasts that Ethereum ETFs could attract up to $4 billion in inflows over the next year—below the analyst consensus range of $4.5 billion to $6.5 billion and far short of the $17 billion drawn by Bitcoin ETFs within six months of launch. Nonetheless, Wintermute projects a potential 24% rise in ETH price over the next 12 months.
Research firm Kaiko notes that demand for last year's launched Ethereum futures ETF was tepid, raising hopes for the spot ETF. According to Kaiko data, Ethereum’s implied volatility surged sharply over the weekend, with near-term contracts expiring on July 26 jumping from 59% to 67%, indicating traders are paying higher premiums to hedge risk.
Notably, the SEC rejected issuers’ requests to allow staking of Ethereum through ETFs, which may reduce the competitiveness of ETH ETFs compared to direct holdings. Management fees have been announced, with Grayscale charging 2.5%, while most other providers keep fees between 0.15% and 0.25%. Institutions including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, VanEck, Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, 21Shares, and Invesco will begin offering ETH ETF products today.
