US Ether ETFs have arrived. Ethereum spot ETFs launched on Tuesday this week, with over $1 billion notional trading volume on the first day across the nine new products. This marks the further institutionalization of the second largest cryptoasset by market cap. Net inflows reached $106 million despite significant outflows from Grayscale’s ETHE. For comparison, the first day of spot BTC ETF trading saw $4.5 billion in trading volume and $650 of net inflows.
In the subsequent days, however, ETH ETFs experienced notable net outflows. On Wednesday, net outflows amounted to $133 million, followed by $152 million on Thursday. The Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) was the only fund among the ether ETFs to record outflows, with a significant $346.22 million in redemptions on Thursday. Despite this, the overall trading volumes of ETH ETFs remained robust, with $944.6 million on Wednesday and $860.8 million on Thursday.
Looking ahead, the role of ETH ETFs in investor portfolios remains uncertain compared to BTC ETFs. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley likened the difference between Bitcoin and Ethereum to apples and bananas, emphasizing their distinct roles as a store of value versus a technology platform. Unsurprisingly, the launch of ETH ETFs has been characterized as a sell-the-news event, with ETH underperforming BTC amid significant outflows from Grayscale’s ETHE. Over the past week, ETH has declined more than 6%, while BTC has risen by 3%. For detailed data on current spot ether ETFs, new dashboards by The Block and Farside Investors provide comprehensive insights
Market Overview
The global cryptoasset market capitalization currently amounts to roughly $2.52 trillion – down from $2.55 trillion last week, with bitcoin accounting for almost 53%. Among the Top 30 cryptoassets by market cap, Solana (SOL) outperformed, gaining about 7.7% over the week to briefly become the fourth largest cryptoasset by market cap. The price of bitcoin (BTC) rose by 3% to $67,604 while the price of ether (ETH) decreased by 6.1% to $3,257. The total value locked (TVL) in DeFi is sitting at $98 billion, with Ethereum (excluding Layer 2s) accounting for about 59% of TVL. Arbitrum One is currently the largest Layer 2 by value locked, accounting for 40% of the $43 billion in assets.
This Week’s Headlines
- Pro-crypto group Fairshake becomes largest super PAC of US election cycle, raising over $200 million
- Polymarket’s July trading volume surpasses $275 million, hits record high
- Tokenization firm Libre launches blockchain-based Hamilton Lane SCOPE senior credit fund on Solana and Ethereum
- Ferrari to expand crypto payments for cars to Europe following US launch
- Aave proposal considers activating fee switch and buying back tokens from open market
- Bitcoin miner MARA (previously Marathon Digital) purchases $100 million worth of bitcoin, holdings surpass 20,000 BTC ($1.3 billion)
- Crypto ETF issuer VanEck uses Pudgy Penguins in new Ether ETF promo video
Notable Deals and Fundraising
- Galaxy Asset Management raises $113 million for its early-stage Galaxy Ventures Fund
- Bitfarms adopts new “poison pill” shareholder rights plan after Riot’s initial tribunal win
- Bitcoin-focused app Fold plans to go public via special purpose acquisition company
- Ethereum rollup deployment platform Caldera raises $15 million in a Series A round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund
- Pudgy Penguins’ parent company Igloo raises $11 million in a funding round led by Founders Fund
- Bitcoin Layer 2 Bitlayer Labs has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round at a $300 million valuation
- Monad liquid staking platform aPriori raises $8 million in a seed funding round at a $100 million valuation
- OpenSocial Protocol raises $6 million in funding from Framework Ventures and others
- Web3 AI firm Network3 raises $5.5 million in funding
- Kintsu, a staking protocol on Monad, raises $4 million in seed funding from Castle Island Ventures, Brevan Howard Digital and others
- Monad-based on-chain orderbook exchange Kuru raises $2 million in seed funding
- Swan to cancel public listing and shutter Bitcoin mining unit following layoffs
