Ether Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) Launch

Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began trading in the U.S. on Tuesday, providing investors with a new vehicle to invest in the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency.

Contrary to expectations that Ether’s price would surge on the day the ETFs launched, the market did not react favorably to either the token or the ETFs. The major altcoin dropped nearly 4% over the past 24 hours to a low of $3,300, making it its weakest price in two weeks.

The decline may be attributed to a “buy the rumor, sell the news” scenario, where the launch was already priced into the market, encouraging short-term investors to realize profits.

This drop in Ether’s price coincided with a broader downturn in the U.S. stock market, where the Nasdaq plunged 3.6%, and the S&P 500 slumped 2.1% due to disappointing earnings from major companies like Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).

In contrast, Bitcoin’s price remained relatively stable around the $66,000 level.

The new Ether ETFs recorded a combined trading volume of just over $1 billion. BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) saw the highest volume at $240 million, followed by the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) at $136 million.

Interestingly, the trading volumes for the Ether ETFs were about 21% of the $4.66 billion seen on the first day of spot Bitcoin ETF trading back in January. However, the spot Ether ETF market was more active than the futures-based Ether ETFs, which faced limited activity upon their debut in October.

Since their launch in January, Bitcoin ETFs have accumulated around $17 billion in net inflows, marking a historically successful debut. In contrast, Ether ETFs are expected to have smaller inflows due to relative market sizes and investor familiarity. While Bitcoin is regarded as digital gold, Ether is viewed more as an investment in the growth of blockchain technology and the broader cryptocurrency market.

With the introduction of Ether ETFs, traders are turning their focus to upcoming U.S. economic data releases on Friday and former President Donald Trump’s speech at the Nashville Bitcoin conference on Saturday.