Thomas Daniels
Spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded approximately $196.7 million in outflows on Monday, August 18, 2025, marking the second-largest daily withdrawal since the instruments launched. Only the $465 million redemption on August 4 was higher. This movement followed $59 million in redemptions on Friday, lifting the two-day total to $256 million.
These recent outflows contrast sharply with the prior eight trading sessions, which saw a combined $3.7 billion in inflows, including multiple single-day totals exceeding $1 billion.
BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) and Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH) led Monday’s ETF redemptions, with $87 million and $79 million withdrawn, respectively. On Friday, Fidelity alone posted $272 million in outflows, adding to the weekly liquidity pressure.
Despite this drawdown, ETHA remains one of the largest institutional holders of Ether, with holdings of around 3.6 million ETH, valued at $15.6 billion as of Monday—a slight decline from $15.8 billion on Friday, reflecting a 1.5% decrease in mark-to-market value amid ETH’s 6.5% price drop.
At the protocol level, Ethereum’s staking mechanism is showing signs of congestion. The validator exit queue surged to a new high of 910,000 ETH, or roughly $3.9 billion, increasing unstaking delays to over 15 days. Market analysts are closely monitoring this buildup, with some warning of a looming “unstakening” scenario, where mass exits could trigger further price volatility.
Commentators such as Samson Mow have projected that Ether’s exchange rate with Bitcoin may revert to 0.03 BTC or lower, down from its current level of 0.036 BTC.
Nevertheless, Ethereum-based ETFs continue to gain ground on their Bitcoin counterparts. As of August 18, Ethereum ETFs held approximately 5% of the total ETH supply, compared with 6.4% for Bitcoin ETFs. If this growth rate persists, analysts suggest that Ethereum ETFs could surpass Bitcoin ETFs by September in terms of supply held.
