BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has expanded its offering of digital assets and introduced the Ethereum (ETH) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on Nasdaq. Amidst this news, the King of Altcoins is trying to break out of his local circle to challenge his bearish outlook.
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BlackRock debuts staked Ethereum ETF
On Thursday, BlackRock introduced the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) on the Nasdaq to “allow investors to secure spot ether while potentially earning income by owning a portion of their ethereum holdings.”
The ETH-based fund expands its portfolio of large-scale digital asset management, 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 NewsBTC reports, BlackRock filed 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 contribute between 70% and 90% of its Ethereum holdings and distribute rewards to stakeholders at least once.
The fund is set to share 82% of staking rewards with investors, while the remaining 18% is shared among its trustees, custodians and service providers. BlackRock has selected Coinbase Custody Trust as the custodian for the Trust’s ETH holdings, while Anchorage Digital Bank will serve as the available alternate custodian for the Trust’s ethereum holdings.
Meanwhile, The Bank of New York Mellon is the custodian and administrator of the Trust’s cash holdings, according to the fund’s prospectus.
In an official statement, Jessica Tan, America’s Head of Global Product Solutions at BlackRock, confirmed that “investors are increasingly allocating to digital assets as part of their strategic portfolio construction, and ETHB provides access to income and exposure to assets in a convenient and transparent manner.”
“We will continue to innovate to meet client demands and expand access, while providing the transparency and risk management that clients expect from BlackRock,” he said.
The price of ETH is holding on to the fear of a breakout
Following this news, ETH price broke above the $2,090 level and reached a weekly high of $2,095. Analyst Ted Pillows noted that despite the volatility of the market, the cryptocurrency has held the psychological barrier of $2,000 for the past three days.
“The macro uncertainty is still there, but the overall strength of Ethereum is good,” he said, adding that the King of Altcoins needs to regain the important $2,150 area for a rally. He predicted that Ethereum could see a “10%-15% quick rally” after recovering from this level.
Meanwhile, Rekt Capital noted an important level on ETH’s weekly and monthly charts. As previously reported, ETH is currently testing its multi-year trend, a structural support that has been in place since mid-2022.
Last month, Ethereum closed well below its multi-year support, creating a chance for this level to be resisted at the end of March. On the weekly chart, ETH has recorded four consecutive blocks below the trendline, suggesting that the market is likely to treat this key level as resistance rather than support.
“Structurally, this behavior is similar to the first stage of the breakdown process, where the price initially loses support, returns to it and starts to reach the resistance level,” the analyst explained, but emphasized that the breakdown has not yet been confirmed.
Therefore, Ethereum can invalidate the bearish scenario if the price closes above the multi-year high for the week and successfully tests it as support. “A successful reversal could open the door to the green resistance zone above, which has historically acted as a key pivot in Ethereum’s broader trend,” he said.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
