The registration statement for BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF has been declared effective by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, with the fund now expected to begin trading on Nasdaq on 23 July 2024.

ETHA, which seeks to track the price of Ethereum’s native token, ether, carries a 0.25% sponsor fee with a one-year waiver reducing the fee to 0.12% on the first $2.5bn of AUM.

In a press statement, Jay Jacobs, US Head of Thematic and Active ETFs, said: "Our clients are increasingly interested in gaining exposure to digital assets through exchange-traded products which provide convenient access, liquidity and transparency. Ethereum’s appeal lies in its decentralised nature and its potential to drive digital transformation in finance and other industries.”

Ethereum, a global technology platform, is similar to an app store that generates value for ether, its native token, as usage increases and more applications are built on top of it. Ether is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation.