ETH is Flat After Strong ETF Debut

Ethereum’s ETH is flat the day after the much-anticipated debut of spot exchange traded funds (ETFs) linked to the asset, which attracted net inflows of $106.6 million on their first day of trading.

Ethereum (ETH) was up by 0.2% to $3,430, while Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.1% to $66,685, at 2pm New York time, according to CoinGecko. Other major cryptocurrencies gained, with Solana (SOL) increasing by 5.5%, while Ripple (XRP) saw up by more than 6%.

Data from Farside indicates that BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) led the influx with $266.5 million, followed by the Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) with $204 million in net inflows. The Fidelity Ethereum Fund ETF (FETH) also attracted $71.3 million.

Meanwhile, investors pulled out $484.9 million from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), which used to be a $9 billion fund.

Lukewarm Reaction

In a note, QCP Capital remarked on the market’s lukewarm reaction to the spot ETH ETFs.

“The market’s reaction to the ETH Spot ETF launch has been muted, with investors waiting to see if it follows the ‘buy the hype, sell the news’ pattern,” QCP Trading wrote in a note. “For comparison, BTC dropped to $38k after its ETF launch highs but broke all-time highs two months later.”

The derivatives market signals traders are betting ETH will continue climbing in the following weeks, Basile Maire, co-founder of D8X and former Executive Director of UBS, said in an emailed note.

“ETH perpetual futures funding rates, an indicator of market bullishness, remain consistent with levels from the past three months, indicating moderate optimism,” Maire said.

Significant call option open interest at $4,000 for end-of-August expiry suggests traders bet on Ethereum exceeding that level by then, according to Maire.

Meanwhile, stock markets traded lower on Wednesday. S&P 500 fell by 1.8% while Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.8%. The Nasdaq sunk 2.9% on mixed quarterly earnings from Alphabet and Tesla. Investors are eagerly anticipating quarterly reports from other major tech companies, as well as potential rate cuts at the Fed’s upcoming September meeting.