It’s a historic week for the cryptocurrency markets, with exchange-traded funds making their debut on the airwaves.
Franklin Templeton is one of nine spot ether ETF applicants who received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
The company is behind the Franklin Ethereum ETF (EZET) – which is now down about 10% since its inception on Thursday. The losses caused by the sell-off of cryptocurrencies.
“We think they’re going to be a hit. Whether they’ll get the same amount of assets is… probably unlikely,” David Mann, head of the firm’s ETF product and capital markets, told CNBC’s “ETF Edge.” on Tuesday. “But it’s still pretty awesome.”
VanEck, a global investment manager, is behind the VanEck Ethereum ETF (ETHV), which also received approval.
CEO Jan Van Eck expects spot ether ETFs to help investors diversify, but he sees a different level of energy for spot ether ETFs.
“I don’t think it’s going to be the same, same kind of hit [as spot bitcoin ETFs]’, says Van Eck.
His new fund has also fallen sharply since Tuesday.
Over the long term, Morningstar’s Ben Johnson sees volumes for spot ether ETFs as normal, as they are roughly proportional to the relative market cap of ether vs. bitcoin.
“There’s a healthy appetite, there’s a healthy volume, there’s a healthy demand,” said the research firm’s head of Client Solutions. “[The ETFs are] opening up access to new markets, new parts of the investment opportunity for investors and putting this in a package that is cost-effective. It’s useful and fits in with the way more and more investors are building their portfolios today.”
Ether fell sharply on Thursday. With the market closing, the stock is down about 11% this week. However, Ether is still up 38% this year.