ETHA's Fee Edge Over ETHE Is Real, but Staking Narrows It

BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust ETF offers a clear headline advantage over Grayscale's Ethereum Staking ETF: ETHA charges a 0.25% sponsor fee, while ETHE charges 2.50%. On a $100,000 position, that difference equals $2,250 a year before considering staking rewards, taxes or trading costs.

The calculation is straightforward. A 0.25% annual fee costs $250 on $100,000, while a 2.50% fee costs $2,500. Both products provide brokerage-account exposure to ether and deduct expenses from fund assets, so the higher fee gradually reduces the amount of ether represented by each share.

That does not make the two products economically identical. Grayscale now stakes part of ETHE's ether, while ETHA's stated objective is simply to reflect the price of ether, less expenses and liabilities. As of October 23, Grayscale reported that 82.22% of ETHE's ether was staked and showed a 2.02% net staking reward rate. Grayscale also warns that this figure is not fund performance and that staking rewards can vary.

The current staking rate therefore narrows the fee disadvantage, but it should not be mechanically subtracted from the 2.50% management fee. The reward measure can change with network conditions, the fund does not stake all assets, and distributions may have tax consequences. ETHA's lower fee is fixed by its current prospectus terms; ETHE's incremental reward is variable.

Account type matters too. A new investor can choose between the products without realizing a gain or loss. An existing ETHE holder in a taxable account may create a taxable event by selling, so the immediate tax cost could outweigh several years of fee savings. The relevant comparison is the investor's after-tax cost, not just the published expense rate.

Liquidity, custody structure and fund history also deserve attention. ETHA began trading in July 2024 and had about $7.36 billion of assets on BlackRock's product list in late October 2026. Grayscale reported about $1.66 billion of ETHE assets on October 23 and notes that the product began as a private placement in 2017 before moving to NYSE Arca in 2024. Larger assets do not guarantee better returns, but they can support trading depth and institutional participation.

For investors who want unlevered ether exposure and do not value staking, ETHA's 2.25-percentage-point fee advantage is difficult to ignore. For investors who value distributed staking rewards, ETHE deserves a total-return comparison that includes the actual distributions received, the changing staking rate and the investor's tax position. The fee gap is certain under current terms; the degree to which staking offsets it is not.