From decrypt by André Beganski

Five months after Ethereum ETFs debuted, investors’ allocations to the products are accelerating, with BlackRock’s $3.6 billion offering leading the charge.

BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF—the iShares Ethereum Trust—capped off a 16-day streak of net inflows with a $200 million bump Thursday, pulling in $1.5 billion since November 20, according to CoinGlass. Prior to that, the ETF had seen $1.7 billion in net inflows since its July debut, encompassing 84 trading days.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been crowned a blowout success this year, attracting billions upon billions of dollars worth of inflows since launching in January. Though the products have helped turn Bitcoin into a Wall Street darling, the industry’s second largest coin by market cap hasn’t had the same run, though spot Ethereum ETFs saw a burst of post-election momentum.

Still, the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) recently notched record-setting inflows, pulling in $293 million as Ethereum’s price dipped to $3,800 on December 5. The following day, Ethereum’s price marched past $4,000, eclipsing the psychological mark for the first time since March.

The uptick in flows for the iShares Ethereum ETF coincided with commentary from Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s U.S. head of thematic and active ETFs. On Thursday, he said BlackRock is at the “tip of the iceberg” with its Bitcoin and Ethereum products, focusing on those offerings instead of expanding its roster, per Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

While BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF is dominant in the U.S., similar products are seeing renewed attention worldwide, CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill told Decrypt. Since November 20, investors have poured $3.5 billion into Ethereum investment products, he said.

“It’s not just a BlackRock or iShares thing,” Butterfill said. “We’re seeing quite a unanimous turnaround in sentiment for Ethereum, which has really been suffering.”

Notably, the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) saw its best day of net inflows Thursday as investors stuffed $200 million into the product, according to Coinglass.

  Indeed, the conversation surrounding Ethereum has been mired in debate over whether layer-2 networks, which are faster and cheaper to use than Ethereum’s base layer, are sucking value away from their underlying network. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s price hasn’t cracked its all-time high price of $4,800 in 2021, as competitors like Solana have set surged to record prices.

“Ethereum is the underdog this year,” said Butterfill. “It’s playing a bit of catch-up.”

Pointing to three consecutive weeks of outflows from Solana investment products, Butterfill said investors’ enthusiasm might have cooled. Still, asset managers like Bitwise and 21Shares have filed applications for spot Solana ETFs in the U.S. this year, a move that could eventually broaden investors’ access to the coin in a similar fashion to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

BRN analyst Valentin Fournier attributed $273 million worth of inflows for spot Ethereum ETFs to the president-elect's comments Thursday. Ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, Donald Trump said “We’re gonna do something great with crypto.”