Michigan Pension Fund Leads with Ethereum ETFs

• The Grayscale Ethereum Trust shows partial ownership of Ethereum held by Grayscale at the behest of the shareholders of the trust.
• In July 2024, the fund has so far made a purchase of ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF whose worth is estimated to be around $6.6 million.
• The fund has now a greater holding of Ethereum than compared to Bitcoin.

The Michigan Office of Retirement which is responsible for looking over $13.6 billion in pension fund assets, has now initiated to expand its crypto holdings after its attack into the asset class in this year. 

On November 4, a 13-F disclosure was presented by the state fund against the Securities and Exchange Commission in which it was mentioned that it has raised around $10 million worth of shares from the Ethereum Trust of Grayscale. 

The fund has now a greater holding of Ethereum than compared to Bitcoin. On November 4, it was listed that the fund drained another $1.1 million worth of shares from the Ethereum Mini Trust of the digital asset manager. 

First Pension fund to buy Ethereum ETFs

It is now the first state pension fund in the United States that has ever put its money in Ethereum ETFs. This step has filled a sense of confidence in crypto enthusiasts that the asset is now more uprooted in terms of the traditional financial world. 

In July 2024, the fund has so far made a purchase of ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF whose worth is estimated to be around $6.6 million. In January this year, the fund got regulatory approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission for the asset class for the investment. 

The Grayscale Ethereum Trust shows partial ownership of Ethereum held by Grayscale at the behest of the shareholders of the trust. Every share stands for indirect exposure to the performance of Ethereum. 

Competition hovering around fees 

A data aggregator has revealed that ETHE has also witnessed net outflows from the time it was converted into an ETF in July this year. The first day of trading witnessed a total of $484 million in outflows and at the beginning of August, the overall outflows surpassed over $2 billion. 

The introduction of various spot US-based Ethereum ETFs by various companies such as BlackRock, Fidelity, as well as Bitwise, has all but also stepped up the competition mainly when the matter revolves around fees. 

At the same time, ETHE takes charge of about 2.5%. However, the competitors BlackRock (ETHA) as well as Fidelity are anticipated to charge around 0.12% and 0.25% after the departure of their fee waiver anticipated for December 31 this year.