BlackRock's Ether ETF Success Hindered by Lack of Staking

Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock's head of digital assets, praised the success of the firm's Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) but pointed out a key limitation. Speaking at the Digital Asset Summit on March 20, he highlighted the absence of staking in the current ETF, describing it as "less perfect." Mitchnick emphasized the importance of staking yield in generating investment returns in the crypto space, noting that adding staking to Ether ETFs is a complex challenge that needs to be addressed. Despite the potential benefits, staking ETH comes with risks such as slashing, which could deter traditional investors due to the added layer of risk involved. Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder, also discussed the narrative surrounding Ethereum and emphasized the importance of targeting applications that matter to users and businesses rather than engaging in broad theoretical discussions. BlackRock has promoted Ethereum to investors as a bet on blockchain adoption, innovation, tokenization, stablecoin adoption, and decentralized finance. Data from SoSoValue indicates that ETH ETFs currently hold a total value of $7 billion as of March 20, with a cumulative inflow of $2.5 billion but have experienced a cumulative outflow of $358 million in the past 11 days amid struggles in the cryptocurrency market.