Ethereum-focused exchange-traded products are capturing a growing share of institutional attention, with staking rewards emerging as a key differentiator against Bitcoin ETFs. According to 21Shares, staking involves locking an asset to verify transactions on networks such as Ethereum or Solana in exchange for rewards tied to the amount staked. The firm’s 21Shares Ethereum Core Staking ETP (ETHC) is designed to bring those rewards into standard brokerage accounts.
ETHC accrues staking yield daily to its net asset value, with the 30-day average yield offered as a smoother measure of performance. The product carries a 0.10% product fee, is 100% physically backed by ETH held in cold storage by an institutional-grade custodian, and trades on several European exchanges. 21Shares states that the ETP provides access to staking yields without investors having to manage private keys, unbonding periods, or on-chain reward events. The structure includes a dedicated liquidity buffer to address delays between unstaking and receiving assets, and rewards are distributed through quarterly cash distributions after fees and expenses.
Regulatory and product momentum has supported the trend. 21Shares notes that the SEC approved filings permitting staking in spot Ethereum ETPs in September 2025, while Solana staking ETPs crossed $1 billion in assets under management within a month of their November launch.
Separately, Real Vision crypto market analyst Jamie Coutts argued that Ethereum is outpacing Bitcoin in U.S. spot ETF inflows when measured relative to market capitalization. Over the past month, Ethereum’s inflow intensity was 0.55%, about 2.4 times Bitcoin’s 0.23%. For three-month and six-month periods, ETH posted 0.41% and 0.38%, while BTC recorded -0.12% and -0.015%. Coutts linked the shift to institutional interest in tokenization, with Ethereum serving as a primary platform for representing real-world assets such as bonds, real estate, and commodities on blockchain networks.
While Bitcoin remains the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, the relative inflow data suggests investors are increasingly allocating to Ethereum for its broader utility beyond a store of value. The trend may continue to shape portfolio decisions as tokenization adoption evolves.
