BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has expanded its digital assets offering and debuted its staked Ethereum (ETH) Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) on Nasdaq. Amid the news, the King of Altcoins is attempting to break out of its local range to challenge its bearish outlook.
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BlackRock Debuts Staked Ethereum ETF
On Thursday, BlackRock introduced the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) on Nasdaq to “provide investors with exposure to spot ether while potentially generating income by staking a portion of its ether holdings.”
The ETH-based fund expands the asset management giant’s digital asset suite, which includes the largest Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) of their kind, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) and the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA).
As reported by NewsBTC, BlackRock submitted an S-1 form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its ETHB fund in December. The registration statement revealed that the fund sought to stake 70% to 90% of its Ethereum holdings and distribute staking rewards to stakeholders at least quarterly.
The fund is set to share 82% of staking rewards with investors, while the remaining 18% will be split among the trust, custodians, and its staking service providers. BlackRock chose Coinbase Custody Trust as the custodian for the Trust’s ETH holdings, while Anchorage Digital Bank will serve as an available alternative custodian for the Trust’s ether holdings.
Meanwhile, the Bank of New York Mellon is the Trust’s cash holdings custodian and administrator, according to the fund’s prospectus.
In the official statement, Jessica Tan, Head of Americas for Global Product Solutions at BlackRock, affirmed that “Investors are increasingly allocating to digital assets as part of their strategic portfolio construction, and ETHB provides access to income and exposure to the asset in a convenient, transparent way.”
“We continue to innovate to meet client demand and expand access, while providing the transparency and risk management clients expect from BlackRock,” she continued.
ETH Price Holds Amid Breakdown Fears
Following the news, ETH’s price broke above the $2,090 level to reach a one-week high of $2,095 before retracing. Analyst Ted Pillows noted that despite market volatility, the cryptocurrency has held the $2,000 psychological barrier throughout the past three days.
“The macro uncertainty is still there, but Ethereum’s overall strength is good,” he said, adding that the King of Altcoins needs to reclaim the crucial $2,150 area for a rally. He forecasted that Ethereum could see a “10%-15% quick rally” once this level is reclaimed.
Meanwhile, Rekt Capital underscored a critical level on ETH’s weekly and monthly charts. As previously reported, ETH is currently testing its multi-year uptrend, a structural support that has held since mid-2022.
Last month, Ethereum marginally closed below its multi-year support, opening the possibility for this level to become resistance on March’s monthly close. On the weekly timeframe, ETH has recorded four consecutive closes below the trendline, suggesting the market is likely beginning to treat this key level as resistance instead of support.
“Structurally, this behaviour resembles the early stage of a breakdown process, where price initially loses support, rallies back into it and begins treating the level as resistance,” the analyst explained, but emphasized that the breakdown is not confirmed yet.
Therefore, Ethereum could invalidate the bearish scenario if the price closes the week above the multi-year uptrend and successfully tests it as support. “A successful reclaim could then open the door toward the green resistance region above, which has historically acted as a major pivot in Ethereum’s broader trend,” he concluded.
Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com