BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has expanded its offering of digital assets and listed its first Ethereum (ETH) Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) on Nasdaq. Amidst this news, the King of Altcoins is trying to break out of his local range to challenge his bearish outlook.
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Company BlackRock Debuts Staked Ethereum ETF
On Thursday, BlackRock launched the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) on Nasdaq to “provide investors with exposure to ether while being able to generate income by holding a portion of their ether.”
The ETH-based fund expands the asset management giant’s digital asset portfolio, including the largest Exchange Traded Products (ETP) of its kind, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) and the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA).
As reported by NewsBTC, 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 wants to contribute 70% to 90% of Ethereum Holdings and distribute significant rewards to participants at least quarterly.
The fund will share 82 percent of the tangible rewards with investors, while the remaining 18 percent will be split between the trust, custodians, and its service providers. BlackRock has selected Coinbase Custody Trust as the custodian of the Trust’s ETH, while Anchorage Digital Bank will serve as the available custodian of the Trust’s ether funds.
Meanwhile, Bank of New York Mellon is the custodian and administrator of the Trust, 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 digital assets as part of their strategic portfolio construction, and ETHB provides access to income and asset exposure in a simple, transparent way.”
“We continue to innovate to meet client demand and expand reach, while providing the transparency and risk management clients expect from BlackRock,” he continued.
ETH Price Held Amid Fallout Fears
Following the news, ETH price broke above the $2,090 level to reach a one-week high of $2,095 before retracing. Analyst Ted Pillows noted that despite the market volatility, the cryptocurrency held the $2,000 psychological barrier over 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 recover the important area of the $2,150 rally. He predicted that Ethereum could see “an immediate 10%-15% rally” once this level is restored.
Meanwhile, Rekt Capital highlighted a critical level on the weekly and monthly charts of ETH. As previously reported, ETH is currently testing its multi-year uptrend, a structural support that has been holding since mid-2022.
Last month, Ethereum closed slightly below its multi-year support, opening the way for this level to become resistance at the close of March. In the weekly timeframe, ETH has recorded four consecutive closes below the trend line, suggesting that the market is likely starting to treat this key level as resistance rather than support.
“Structurally, this behavior is similar to the first stage of the collapse process, when the price begins to lose support, gathers back and begins to treat the level as resistance,” explained the analyst, but emphasized that the collapse is not yet confirmed.
Therefore, Ethereum may not be active in a bearish situation if the price closes the week above the multi-year uptrend and successfully tests it as support. “A successful recovery could open the door to a greenish resistance zone above, which has served as a major base in Ethereum’s broader trend,” he concluded.
Featured image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
