BlackRock Launches ETHB Staked Ether ETF With 0.25% Fee
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, expanded its digital asset suite by launching the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) on March 12, 2026. The new exchange-traded fund, which trades on Nasdaq, is the firm's first crypto product to offer staking rewards. ETHB will hold spot ether and stake a portion of its assets on the Ethereum network, allowing investors to earn rewards in addition to tracking the price of ETH. The fund has a sponsor fee of 0.25%, with a waiver reducing the cost to 0.12% on the first $2.5 billion in assets under management for the first year. This launch follows the significant success of its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), which manage over $55 billion and $6.5 billion, respectively.
New ETF Aims to Attract Direct Stakers and Institutions
The primary strategy behind ETHB is to capture a segment of the market that existing ETFs could not reach. Previously, crypto-native investors who staked their own ETH were reluctant to move into an ETF and forfeit those rewards. The new fund structure provides the operational benefits of an ETF, such as institutional-grade custody and brokerage access, while retaining the yield-like feature of staking. This design also appeals to institutional investors who prioritize cash-flow-generating assets in their portfolios. The move capitalizes on growing institutional interest in Ethereum, evidenced by Harvard's endowment recently purchasing $87 million of BlackRock's non-staked ETHA fund while trimming its Bitcoin exposure.
Some investors who already hold ether directly were staking it and weren’t ready to move into an exchange-traded product because they would lose that feature.
— Jay Jacobs, U.S. head of equity ETFs, BlackRock.
BlackRock's Crypto Products Exceed $130B in Assets
The launch of ETHB solidifies BlackRock's dominant position in the crypto investment landscape. The firm now oversees approximately $130 billion across its crypto-related products and captured an estimated 95% of all flows into digital asset ETPs in 2025. This market leadership suggests a strong potential for asset gathering in the new staked ETH fund. While institutional allocations to crypto remain in the low single digits, typically 1% to 2%, products like ETHB are designed to make the asset class more accessible and comparable to traditional investments. On-chain data further shows BlackRock's active management, with recent movements of over $153 million in BTC and ETH to Coinbase, likely for portfolio rebalancing ahead of the new product's debut.
