Spot Ethereum ETFs Compared: Fees, Staking, Holdings and Flows for All 11 U.S. Funds

Cheapest Ethereum ETF: every fund ranked by fee

The sponsor fee is the only running cost a holder pays, and it comes straight out of the fund’s ETH every day, so it shows up as slow underperformance rather than a bill. Nine of the eleven funds sit between 0.14% and 0.25%. The last column shows what that means on $10,000 for one year.

ETHB’s 0.12% applies to the first $2.5 billion of fund assets for 12 months from its March 12, 2026 launch; with $1.06 billion in the fund on October 16 the whole fund currently pays 0.12%. TETH’s full waiver was first set to run to October 8, 2026 and was extended by a year in an October 6, 2026 filing. Waivers are temporary by design, so the standing fee is the better guide for a long holding period.

ETHE’s 2.50% is a legacy of its years as a closed trust. Grayscale launched the separate Mini ETH at 0.15% alongside it, and money has moved accordingly: on Farside’s data ETHE has had $5.49 billion of net outflows since July 2024 while ETH has taken in $2.01 billion. Fees are only one input, though; brokerage commissions, the bid/ask spread and, for staking funds, the rewards passed through all matter too, which is what the calculator below lets you test.

Which Ethereum ETFs stake, and how much of the reward you keep

Staking means locking ETH with Ethereum’s validators to earn new ETH and fees (our guide to what Ethereum staking is covers the mechanics). For their first year U.S. spot ETH funds did not stake. Grayscale’s ETHE and Mini ETH began on October 6, 2025, BlackRock launched a separate staked fund (ETHB) on March 12, 2026, Morgan Stanley’s MSSE has staked since its July 28, 2026 launch, and Fidelity added a staking program to FETH in its August 21, 2026 prospectus. 21Shares renamed its fund the 21Shares Ethereum Staking ETF. VanEck’s 10-Q notes that the SEC issued interpretive guidance on March 17, 2026 that addresses protocol staking.

Issuers publish rates differently, so compare them with care. On October 16, 2026 Grayscale showed gross staking rewards of 2.66% and net staking rewards of 2.04% for ETHE (83.9% staked), and 2.61% gross and 2.46% net for the Mini ETH (80.9% staked). iShares showed a 30-day staking rewards rate of 1.44% for ETHB. 21Shares’ “rewards rate” of 2.59% is a network-wide figure, not the fund’s own return. None of these rates is guaranteed, and the sponsor fee still applies on top.

Funds never stake everything. They keep part of the ETH unstaked so they can meet redemptions, because leaving Ethereum’s validator set can take days or weeks when the exit queue is long. Morgan Stanley’s prospectus explains that ETH waiting in the activation queue earns nothing, which is one reason its fund plans to stake only 50%–80%. Staking also adds slashing risk (a validator penalty) and more parties: each staking fund names one or more staking providers in addition to its custodian.

If you would rather stake yourself, compare current rates and fees for Lido, Rocket Pool, Coinbase and solo staking on our ETH staking comparator and in Lido vs Rocket Pool vs Coinbase staking. A liquid-staking token keeps you on-chain but adds smart-contract risk; an ETF keeps you in a brokerage account but gives a larger cut of the rewards away. For how network staking yields have moved since 2020, see the Ethereum staking APR history.

Ethereum ETF flows: since launch, 2026 and the last two weeks

Flows are the net dollars investors put into (or pulled from) each fund through share creations and redemptions. These figures are from Farside Investors, in US$ millions, for 562 trading days from July 23, 2024 to October 16, 2026. ETHE’s figure excludes the roughly $9.2 billion it already held when it converted. For daily figures updated after October 16, an explorer for any period, records, streaks and ETH vs bitcoin ETF flows, see our Ethereum ETF flows tracker.

Net flows by fund

Monthly net flows in 2026

The record month was July 2025 at +$5.43 billion, and the biggest single day was August 11, 2025 at +$1.02 billion; the worst day was August 4, 2025 at −$465.1 million. The last ten trading days to October 16, 2026 added up to −$862.3 million, with only one day of inflows:

• Oct 5, 2026−$50.8M
• Oct 6, 2026−$201.9M
• Oct 7, 2026−$160.9M
• Oct 8, 2026−$72.5M
• Oct 9, 2026−$56.1M
• Oct 12, 2026−$85.4M
• Oct 13, 2026+$24.8M
• Oct 14, 2026−$129.5M
• Oct 15, 2026−$60.3M
• Oct 16, 2026−$69.7M

Flows describe what fund buyers did, not where ETH goes next. For price context, see our Ethereum price history by year and month.

Fee-drag calculator: an ETH ETF vs holding ETH yourself

An ETF’s fee is small each year but compounds; self-custody has up-front costs (exchange fees, spreads and possibly a hardware wallet) but nothing after that. Pick a fund, set your amount, time frame and an assumed ETH return, and the calculator shows both ending values, the dollars lost to the sponsor fee and the year, if any, when holding ETH yourself pulls ahead. The defaults are examples, not recommendations.

How it works: the ETF value grows each year by your ETH return and the staking yield, then loses the sponsor fee; half the bid/ask spread is paid on the way in and half on the way out. Fee drag is the gap between that result and the same fund with a 0% fee. Self-custody starts from your amount minus the wallet cost and the buy cost, grows by the ETH return and your own staking yield, and pays the sell cost at the end.

How spot Ethereum ETFs work

A spot ETH ETF is a trust that holds actual ETH with a regulated custodian and issues shares that trade on a stock exchange (Nasdaq, NYSE Arca or Cboe). The SEC approved the exchanges’ rule changes on May 23, 2024, and nine funds began trading on July 23, 2024. They are not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 like most mutual funds and ETFs, so they do not carry the same investor protections; their prospectuses say this plainly.

New shares are created, and old ones redeemed, only by large brokers called authorized participants, in blocks called baskets. Since SEC orders of July 29, 2025 this can be done in ETH as well as cash, which helps keep the share price close to the value of the ETH behind it. Each fund values its ETH once a day using a benchmark price: on October 16, 2026 the CF Benchmarks rate used by iShares was $2,406.39 and the CoinDesk rate used by Grayscale was $2,410.05. During the day the market price can sit slightly above or below that value; ETHB closed at a 0.12% premium that day.

Every day the fund pays its sponsor fee by giving up a sliver of ETH, so the ETH behind each share slowly shrinks. Staking funds add ETH from rewards, then sell some of it to pay holders in cash. Ten of the eleven funds use Coinbase Custody as their custodian or a co-custodian; Fidelity uses its own Fidelity Digital Assets plus Anchorage and BitGo.

Ethereum ETF vs holding ETH yourself

An ETF suits someone who wants ETH’s price exposure inside an existing brokerage or retirement account and never plans to use ETH on-chain. Holding ETH directly suits someone who wants to send it, stake it their own way or use apps, and who is ready to protect a seed phrase. Many people do both. If you go the direct route, our hardware wallet vs exchange guide compares custody options and device prices, and the Ethereum wallet guide walks through setting one up safely.

Taxes on Ethereum ETFs (U.S.)

The sponsors say they intend to treat their funds as grantor trusts, so the trust itself pays no income tax and each holder is treated as owning a share of its ETH. Selling ETF shares at a gain is a capital gain, like selling ETH. Two less obvious points come from the prospectuses. First, when a trust pays its sponsor fee in ETH, each holder is treated as having sold a tiny pro rata slice of ETH, which can create small gains or losses every year. Second, staking rewards can be taxable income: the IRS said in Revenue Ruling 2023-14 that staking rewards are generally income when received, and staking funds pay theirs out as cash.

In an IRA these events are sheltered, which is one reason ETFs appeal to retirement savers. In a taxable account, switching from an expensive fund to a cheaper one is a sale, so check the gain first. Estimate what a sale would cost with our crypto tax estimator, and confirm details with a tax professional.

Risks to know before buying an Ethereum ETF

• ETH’s price. The fund moves with ETH, which can fall by half or more. An ETF changes how you hold ETH, not how risky it is.
• Fee drag. A 2.50% fee costs ten times a 0.25% fee, every year, whether ETH rises or falls.
• Premiums and discounts. Shares can trade above or below the value of their ETH, especially in fast markets or outside U.S. trading hours when ETH keeps trading.
• Custody concentration. Coinbase Custody is a custodian or co-custodian for ten of the eleven funds.
• Staking risks. Rewards vary, validator penalties are possible, and exit queues can slow redemptions.
• Closure. Small funds can shut down; ESK was liquidated in June 2026, and several funds here hold under $50 million.
• Rules and taxes. Regulation, tax treatment and fund terms (including fee waivers) can change.

For the wider case for and against ETH itself, read Is Ethereum a good investment? The seven biggest risks of holding ETH in any form are in Is Ethereum a safe investment?

Download the comparison (CSV, CC BY 4.0)

One row per fund: fee and waiver, staking terms, listing date, custodians, ETH held, net assets (with dates), cumulative flows and a source link.

The table and CSV are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Share and adapt them with credit and a link to this page.

GrowYourEthereum. (2026). Spot Ethereum ETFs Compared [Data set]. Updated October 19, 2026. https://growyourethereum.com/data/ethereum-etfs. Licensed CC BY 4.0.

<a href="https://growyourethereum.com/data/ethereum-etfs">Spot Ethereum ETFs Compared</a> by GrowYourEthereum, licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY 4.0</a>.

@misc{growyourethereum_ethereum_etfs_2026,
  author       = {{GrowYourEthereum}},
  title        = {Spot Ethereum ETFs Compared},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://growyourethereum.com/data/ethereum-etfs}},
  note         = {Data set, updated October 19, 2026. CC BY 4.0}
}

Methodology

• The fund list matches the eleven U.S. spot ETH funds tracked by Farside Investors. Fees, waivers, staking splits, listing dates and custodians were read from each fund’s page and its latest prospectus, 8-K or 10-Q on SEC EDGAR on October 18–19, 2026.
• ETH held and net assets are the issuer’s own figures on the date shown (mostly October 16, 2026). Where an issuer does not publish a figure we say so rather than estimate it.
• Flows are Farside’s daily data in US$ millions, summed by fund, month and year. Farside notes its figures can be revised.
• The calculator pre-fills a staking yield only where the issuer publishes one. For Grayscale we multiply the published net staking rate by the published staked share, because 2.66% gross × 77% ≈ 2.04% suggests the net rate applies to staked ETH only; that makes our figure the more conservative one.
• We will refresh fees, holdings, staking terms and flows monthly, and sooner when a fund launches, closes or changes its fee.

Ethereum ETF FAQ

Sources

• iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA): fund page and holdings
• iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB): fund page, staking rate and holdings
• Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH): fund page for advisors
• Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE): fund page and staking details
• Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF (ETH): fund page and staking details
• Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW): fund site
• VanEck Ethereum ETF (ETHV): fund page
• Franklin Ethereum ETF (EZET): fund page
• Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF (QETH): fund page
• 21Shares Ethereum Staking ETF (TETH): fund page
• Morgan Stanley: launch of its Ethereum and Solana ETPs (MSSE)
• SEC: Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust prospectus (fee, staking split)
• SEC: iShares Ethereum Trust prospectus supplement (1-for-3 reverse split, Oct 6, 2026)
• SEC: iShares Ethereum Trust 10-Q for Q2 2026 (listing, in-kind orders)
• SEC: iShares Staked Ethereum Trust prospectus (fee waiver, 18% staking share)
• SEC: Fidelity Ethereum Fund prospectus, Aug 21, 2026 (staking program, 15% fee)
• SEC: Fidelity Ethereum Fund 10-Q for Q2 2026 (holdings at Jun 30, 2026)
• SEC: Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF 10-Q for Q2 2026
• SEC: Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF 8-K, Aug 6, 2026 (staking distributions)
• SEC: Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF 10-Q for Q2 2026
• SEC: Bitwise Ethereum ETF prospectus (no staking)
• SEC: VanEck Ethereum ETF prospectus, Jul 22, 2024 (no staking)
• SEC: VanEck Ethereum ETF 10-Q for Q2 2026 (custodians, SEC staking guidance)
• SEC: Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF post-effective amendment, Sep 2025 (no staking)
• SEC: 21Shares 8-K, Oct 6, 2026 (TETH fee waiver extended to Oct 8, 2027)
• SEC: REX-Osprey ETH + Staking ETF liquidation notice (May 2026)
• Farside Investors: Ethereum ETF flow, all data (US$ millions)
• IRS Revenue Ruling 2023-14 (staking rewards and income)
• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license