BlackRock ETF clients sell $110M worth of Ethereum as broader crypto fund outflows accelerate
The largest single-fund Ethereum ETF redemption of the day came amid $224 million in total sector outflows, driven by investor reaction to the Fed's first rate hike in three years
BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) hemorrhaged $110.03 million in a single session on September 16, making it the biggest individual fund redemption across the entire US spot Ethereum ETF landscape for the day. The withdrawal wasn’t a solo act. It was part of a broader $224 million wave of net outflows across US spot Ethereum ETFs, as institutional investors hit the exits in response to the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike in three years.
Ethereum’s spot price, in a move that would confuse anyone who thinks markets are rational, actually ticked up 1.54% on the day.
A coordinated retreat across crypto ETFs
BlackRock wasn’t the only asset manager watching money walk out the door. Fidelity’s FETH product shed $55.58 million on the same day, making it the second-largest contributor to the sector’s outflow total. BlackRock’s own staking-enabled Ethereum product, ETHB, lost $19.76 million in redemptions as well.
The selling pressure extended well beyond Ethereum. US spot Bitcoin ETFs faced nearly $296 million in net outflows during the same session. BlackRock’s Bitcoin fund, IBIT, accounted for $144.1 million of that total. 21Shares’ TETH managed to pull in minor inflows, a small bright spot in an otherwise gloomy day for crypto fund flows.
Context matters: the long game still favors inflows
Cumulative net inflows for US spot Ethereum ETFs stood at approximately $13.14 billion after the session’s outflows were tallied. That figure represents the total capital that has flowed into these products since they launched in mid-2024, minus everything that has been redeemed. In other words, for every dollar that left on September 16, roughly $59 had come in and stayed over the product category’s lifetime.
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BlackRock’s ETHA has been the dominant force in the US Ethereum ETF market since its inception. The fund’s sheer size means that its flows, both positive and negative, tend to move the needle for the entire sector. A $110 million outflow from ETHA is significant in absolute terms, but it represents a relatively modest percentage of the fund’s accumulated assets.
The Fed factor and what it means for crypto allocations
The near-$296 million in Bitcoin ETF outflows on the same day reinforces the interpretation that this was a macro-driven de-risking event rather than asset-specific concerns. A day where ETF investors sell $224 million but price still edges higher suggests underlying demand from other market participants was absorbing the pressure.
The $13.14 billion in cumulative inflows also establishes a significant base of institutional holders who entered at various price points over the past two years. That installed base creates a structural floor of demand that didn’t exist before spot Ethereum ETFs launched in mid-2024.