The team at CoinGecko reveals in an extensive report that there are around $5.7B worth of assets in Ethereum ETFs, which is being led by Europe with an 81% share.
XBT Ethereum Tracker One (COINETH) is reportedly “the global top Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF), with by far the biggest asset size of $3.34 billion.”
The CoinGecko report further noted that another product from the same provider, XBT Ethereum Tracker Euro (COINETHE), is “the second biggest Ethereum ETF with $510.93 million in total assets. Both COINETH and COINETHE are Ethereum futures ETFs traded in Europe.”
COINETH and COINETHE were launched together “in October 2017 as the world’s first Ethereum ETFs, just ahead of Grayscale’s Ethereum unit trust launch in December.”
The top spot Ethereum ETF is Canada’s CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF (ETHX), which “has $478.35 million in total assets.”
Europe’s 21Shares Ethereum Staking ETP (AETH) ranks “as the second biggest spot Ethereum ETF. AETH holds $329.42 million in total assets, and launched in 2019 as the first spot Ethereum ETF worldwide.”
All of the global top 10 Ethereum ETFs are “traded in either Canada or Europe. In comparison, the US Ethereum ETFs ranked 14th or lower.”
This comes as the US SEC continues to “delay its decision on spot Ethereum ETF applications, and it remains to be seen if the US can catch up to Canada and Europe.”
There are currently 27 active Ethereum ETFs worldwide, “with a combined $5.70 billion in total assets.”
Their combined asset size is “still smaller than Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) alone, which has $6.76 billion in total assets.”
Notably, the top 10 biggest Ethereum ETFs account “for a disproportionate $5.49 billion or 96.4% of assets.” This suggests that a few players “dominate the Ethereum ETF market, despite more products and providers entering the market.”
Out of the 27 Ethereum ETFs globally, 20 “are spot Ethereum ETFs and 7 are Ethereum futures ETFs. However, Ethereum futures ETFs represent a combined $3.91 billion in asset size (68.5%), or more than twice the $1.80 billion (31.5%) held in spot Ethereum ETFs. If the US SEC approves spot Ethereum ETFs and Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust conversion, it is possible that spot Ethereum ETFs may flip Ethereum futures ETFs.”
After the first Ethereum ETFs were launched in 2017, “none followed in 2018 as the overall crypto market peaked and declined. 2019 and 2020 saw one Ethereum ETF launch each, in Europe and Canada respectively.”
Amid the 2021 crypto bull market, Ethereum ETFs “gained popularity and 12 were launched across Europe, Canada and Brazil. The momentum of TradFi adoption continued but at a slower pace, with 6 Ethereum ETFs in 2022 and 4 in 2023.”
In 2024 to date, 1 Ethereum ETF has been “launched in Malaysia, namely the Halogen Shariah Ethereum Fund (HALSETH).”
Ethereum ETFs are incorporated “in 13 countries worldwide and traded in 7 geographical markets. Specifically, spot Ethereum ETFs are incorporated in 10 countries and traded in 5 markets, while Ethereum futures ETFs are incorporated in just 4 countries and traded in 3 markets.”
Europe and Canada are leading “the Ethereum ETF market: Europe has 3 Ethereum futures ETFs and 10 spot Ethereum ETFs, with a combined $4.65 billion asset size or 81.45% global market share. Canada has 6 spot Ethereum ETFs with $949.25 million in combined assets, representing 16.64% global market share.”
Brazil ranks as the third largest Ethereum ETF market, “with 2 spot Ethereum ETFs holding $47.30 million assets (0.83%), followed by US’ $43.04 million total assets across 3 Ethereum futures ETFs (0.75%).”
The smaller markets for Ethereum ETFs “are Hong Kong (0.21%), Australia (0.10%) and Malaysia (0.01%).”
Notably, the US and Hong Kong only “have Ethereum futures ETFs, whereas Canada, Brazil, Australia and Malaysia only have spot Ethereum ETFs. Europe is the sole market where both futures and spot ETFs are offered.”
Methodology
The study from CoinGecko examined Ethereum futures and spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or exchange-traded products (ETPs) based “on Bloomberg and public data as of February 2, 2024. For the purpose of this study, ‘ETFs’ and ‘ETPs’ were used interchangeably; Grayscale Ethereum Trust was not included as an ETF due to its close-ended structure.”