In both cases, owning the underlying asset enables full portability, 24/7 liquidity, and the ability to do things on Bitcoin or Ethereum crypto rails (namely global payments, Decentralized Finance, and more). However, the ETH ETF now introduces a key aspect that advisors should consider. Unlike bitcoin, ether can become a yield-bearing asset by staking it to help secure the Ethereum network. It is very unlikely that the first ETH ETFs offer any staking rewards to investors for a number of regulatory and operational reasons of the issuers. Today, owning and holding ether directly (and for that matter, any other yield-bearing digital asset) is the only way to access these staking rewards, so advisors should consider this when talking to clients about Ether. These staking rewards become income-generating opportunities that investors with considerable ETH exposure should, at the very least, consider, or at the very least, understand that they are leaving on the table if they only hold the asset in ETF form.
