Rising Competition in Ether ETFs Sparks Fee War

Asset manager 21Shares is setting management fees for its 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF (CETH) at 0.21% and plans to waive those fees for up to six months after listing or until the fund reaches at least $500 million in assets. This move comes as competition heats up among issuers of spot Ether (ETH) ETFs after US regulators reportedly gave tentative approval for listing starting July 23. A total of eight prospective issuers are aiming to list spot ETH ETFs next week.

21Shares is not alone in slashing fees to attract investors, with VanEck also revealing plans to waive the VanEck Ethereum ETF’s 0.20% management fee for up to a year after listing or until the fund reaches $1.5 billion in assets. Other ETH ETF sponsors like Franklin Templeton and BlackRock are hinting at possible temporary fee discounts as well. This fee war mirrors what happened with Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year, with many BTC ETFs cutting or waiving fees to compete for investor flows.

Analysts anticipate that ETH ETFs could bring in up to $10 billion in inflows in the months following their launch, potentially driving Ether prices to new all-time highs by year-end. The potential approval of these ETH ETFs is sparking speculation that other types of crypto ETFs may soon follow, with the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) filing applications to list proposed spot Solana ETFs from VanEck and 21Shares. US regulators are expected to make the final decision on these funds around March 2025, indicating a growing interest in expanding the range of available crypto investment vehicles.