Ethereum ETFs: Compare Spot Funds, Staking and Fees — October 2026

Annual charges are the ongoing rates before temporary waivers. Waivers can have expiry dates and asset limits, detailed in the fund summaries. Other fund expenses and trading costs may still apply.

Six of the eleven funds have staking arrangements. Their ongoing annual charges range from 0.14% to 2.50%, before any waiver. The staking reward cut is a separate deduction, so the lowest headline fee does not establish the lowest combined cost.

The ranking blocks draw from published fund reviews. The wider research comparison below covers eleven funds, including ETHB and MSSE, which do not yet have full reviews. Ratings use the September 24, 2026 assessment. Missing ratings are not zero.

The table below preserves the dated staking and spread evidence for all eleven assessed funds. ETHB and MSSE are comparison-only entries without full review links.

Spread dates and staked-share dates are separate observations. ETHV uses labeled third-party spread data because the issuer does not publish the required median. Reward deductions are the stated shares of gross staking rewards at the assessment date and may change. A higher staked percentage is not a promised yield.

The published spread is a historical median, not the quote for your next trade. Some staked percentages include activation or exit queues and should not be read as identical measures of reward-earning ether.

The distinction between custody and staking responsibility matters across these funds. A contract can protect ownership and provide recovery for negligent safekeeping while offering no public terms for recovering a validator’s slashing loss. Compare those obligations alongside the fee, not just the provider’s name.

iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB)

ETHB adds staking to an iShares ether fund, with a 0.25% ongoing sponsor fee and a 10% share of gross rewards retained by service providers and the sponsor. Its launch waiver reduces the fee on eligible assets. The reported staked share was 78.48% on Sep. 23, 2026, without separating queued ether.

ETHB’s waiver applies a 0.12% sponsor fee to the first $2.5 billion for twelve months from March 12, 2026. The ongoing 0.25% charge is used in its rating and in the 0.455% combined-cost illustration at the common reference rate. The 8.4/10 score becomes 8.3/10 at a 0.07% spread. Its holdings disclosure does not separate queued ether. The sponsor and trustee can raise the staking deduction on the notice described in the trust terms. Safekeeping recovery remains subject to contractual limits.

Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (MSSE)

Morgan Stanley’s Ethereum Trust states a 0.14% annual delegated sponsor fee and a 5% deduction from staking rewards. It has no overall rating at the September 24 cutoff. Its first applicable reporting assessment is not yet due, and no staked percentage was displayed in the reviewed disclosure.

MSSE remains unranked while its first applicable periodic assessment is not yet due. Its missing staked percentage also prevents a complete score. The 0.33% published spread, dated September 23, 2026, is an observation and does not complete the assessment. The 5% reward deduction is stated in its prospectus. It is not a guaranteed yield, and no combined-cost estimate is supplied.

Our Ethereum ETF rating compares the terms of the fund and its published characteristics. It does not predict ether’s price or measure the return an investor will receive. The assessment uses methodology eth-1.1 and a September 24, 2026 cutoff.

Staking has a material effect on these ratings. A fund that does not stake receives zero for that pillar and can score no more than 8.0/10. That is an editorial preference built into this methodology, not a finding that staking is suitable for every investor. Someone who wants exposure without staking can compare the non-staking funds on fees and custody terms.

Unresolved required information keeps the overall rating blank. It does not produce a zero, a confidence deduction or a score calculated from fewer pillars. Where a different published spread or one unit of published precision changes the rounded rating, the alternative appears beside the score. The spread figures come from public disclosures with differing calculation conventions and are not live execution quotes.

The Ethereum and Bitcoin methodologies have different weights. Their scores should not be ranked together. We refresh the Ethereum assessment monthly and after material changes. We treat this assessment as out of date after November 8, 2026. CryptoSlate’s approach to review ratings explains the wider editorial framework.

A spot Ethereum ETF holds ether and issues shares that trade on a securities exchange. Its shares give investors exposure through a brokerage account. Ether is the asset used to pay for transactions on the Ethereum network and its applications.

The U.S. spot products in this comparison are exchange-traded trusts. Although commonly called ETFs, they are not investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Exchange listing does not give them all the protections that apply to funds registered under that Act.

A futures fund gets exposure through derivatives. A leveraged or inverse product targets a different return pattern. Neither is interchangeable with the unleveraged spot funds compared here. Funds holding multiple crypto assets or liquid staking tokens also fall outside this comparison.

A staking fund commits some of its ether to validators that help process and confirm Ethereum transactions. Rewards earned by that ether accrue to the fund, subject to the fees and distribution terms in its documents. The shareholder does not choose validators or control their keys.

Three figures answer different questions. The staked share tells you how much ether is committed. The reward cut tells you how much of the gross staking reward goes to service providers or the sponsor. The net amount received by the fund depends on both, as well as the rewards actually earned.

For example, assume a fund stakes 70% of its ether and retains 90% of gross rewards. It would retain 63% of the reward that staking all its ether at the same gross rate would produce. This simplified illustration excludes downtime and other expenses. It is not a promised yield.

Rewards, Distributions and Exit Queues

A quoted network staking rate is not the yield shareholders receive. Funds can leave ether unstaked to meet liquidity needs, and their reward deductions differ. Check whether a published rate is gross or net, its measurement period and whether it has been annualized.

Distribution policy is a separate question. Net rewards may be held within the fund or sold for cash distributions under its terms. A cash distribution is not an extra return on top of the fund’s total return, and a distribution schedule does not guarantee a payment.

Some reported staked percentages include ether waiting to activate or exit. That amount is not necessarily all earning rewards. Leaving staking can also require a network queue, so a fund may be unable to sell that ether immediately even while its shares continue trading.

What Slashing Means for Shareholders

Slashing is a protocol penalty for certain validator violations that can destroy part of the staked ether. Ordinary downtime can cause other penalties or missed rewards. The fund’s loss can pass through to shareholders if its contracts do not provide recovery.

A custodian’s duty to safeguard ether does not automatically cover a validator’s staking failure. Check the responsible party, the conduct that triggers reimbursement and any monetary cap. A high custody score assesses specified contract terms. It is not a guarantee that every loss would be repaid.

Start with the ongoing annual charge. A waiver can temporarily reduce it, but the rate after expiry matters for a holding that continues beyond the offer. The stated fee may also use a different assessment base across trusts, such as net assets or ether holdings.

A 0.20% annual charge is about $20 on a constant $10,000 fee base for a year. Actual charges change as that base changes. A 10% staking reward cut means 10% of rewards, not a 10% annual charge on the investment.

The combined-cost illustrations discussed here add the ongoing fee to the reward deduction expressed as a share of ether holdings. They use a common network reference rate of 2.6178%, dated September 23, 2026. They are not realized expense ratios, actual yields or total ownership costs. Temporary waivers, broker charges and trading costs are excluded.

For frequent trades, the spread and order conditions can matter more than a small difference in annual fees. A published median cannot tell you the price available for a particular order. A limit order controls the worst price you accept, but it may not execute.

The share structure removes personal key management, but it adds dependence on the fund and its service providers. Direct ownership gives more control and brings responsibility for recovery, transaction signing and address checks. Our comparison of crypto wallets for self-custody covers that choice separately.

Authorized participants may create or redeem large baskets under a fund’s arrangements. Permission for in-kind baskets does not give an ordinary shareholder a right to exchange individual shares for ether.

This comparison covers eleven U.S.-listed spot ether funds assessed against a September 24, 2026 cutoff. The tables retain each market or staking observation date. Later changes do not enter those scores until the assessment is refreshed. Educational material was checked on September 29, 2026. The TETH waiver extension and completed ETHA reverse split were checked on October 9, 2026; this targeted update does not redate the market observations or recalculate ratings.

The review uses public filings, fund disclosures and published market statistics. It does not include private control reports, validator testing or measured execution of investor orders. Custody appointments do not establish how ether is allocated between providers. This comparison is editorial information, not a personalized investment recommendation.

TETH’s 0.21% annual sponsor fee is waived through October 8, 2027. Its 25% deduction from gross staking rewards still applies. The combined-cost illustration uses the ongoing fee before the waiver.

ETHA completed a 1-for-3 reverse share split on October 6, 2026. Each three shares became one. The split did not change proportional ownership except where fractional interests were redeemed for cash.