It was a slow start for futures-based ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on their first day of trading. A total of nine of the ETFs offering exposure to ether futures came to market on Monday. Five will hold only ether futures, while four will hold a mix of bitcoin and ether futures. One of those funds, Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) – soon to be renamed – has been in existence for about two years as a bitcoin-only fund, but is changing its strategy to include ether. The rest of the vehicles are new to market. “Pretty meh volume for the Ether Futures ETFs as a group,” said Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. Among the more popular of the new ETFs today, VanEck’s Ethereum Strategy ETF (EFUT) traded just shy of 25,000 shares at a price roughly averaging $17 per share on Monday for a total dollar volume of just $425,000. For comparison, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) – which launched in October 2021 amid a raging crypto bull market – reported trading volume of more than $1 billion on its first day.
