ETH Vs. ETHA: Why The 'Mini' Is A Win For Long-Term Ethereum Bulls
Summary In this article, I review all major Ethereum ETFs and single out ETH (Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust) as my favorite. Despite ETHA's (iShares) leadership in liquidity, ETH is the more compelling choice for long-term holding due to its lower expense ratio. The primary competitive advantage of ETH is the potential to earn additional yield from staking. I recommend ETH for buy-and-hold strategies, while ETHA remains preferable for large, actively traded positions due to superior liquidity and minimal spreads. Investment Thesis By 2025, investors will have access to investing in Ethereum ( ETH-USD ) using convenient spot ETFs. Out of inertia, most market participants favor the iShares Ethereum Trust ( ETHA ) fund, focusing on the fact that it is managed by the largest asset management company, BlackRock. But if your goal isn't to trade often, and you're looking to hold an ETF with Ethereum as its underlying asset for the long term, there's a more obvious favorite. In this article, we will take a closer look at the fundamental factors that indicate that Ethereum is poised for a new phase of upward growth. We will focus primarily on a comparative analysis of two popular funds: Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF ( ETH ) and iShares Ethereum Trust ETF. I will explain why ETH, in particular, with its lower fees and potential for additional returns from staking, represents the most effective solution for investing in Ethereum. In comparison with ETHA, the fund is capable of offering investors higher returns over the long term. Reasons for Ethereum's growth Before reviewing the advantages of ETH compared to ETHA, I would like to focus on four factors that could potentially drive Ethereum's growth. These are fundamentally important for our assessment, because without expectations of cryptocurrency price growth, there is no point in investing in any funds where Ethereum is the underlying asset. There are several factors today that form the fundamental basis for the potential growth of the ETH-USD price in the medium and long term: Factor #1: Ethereum's deflationary mechanism Let me try to explain it using an analogy with stock buybacks. When you use the Ethereum network, first you pay a transaction fee. The network then collects this fee and effectively “buys back” Ethereum, thereby destroying it. When the burned fees exceed the value of the new issuance, the total supply of coins decreases. With increased activity in DeFi, NFT, and L2 settlement networks beginning to be observed today, this fee-burning mechanism makes Ethereum more deflationary. Factor #2: Impact of the Fed rate cut on the potential increase in financial market liquidity As Ethereum is a high beta asset, its price may show outperformance (compare d to the stock market), which will allow it to demonstrate double-digit growth. There is an 84.8% probability that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points at its meeting on December 10, 2025, up from 80.2% a week earlier. Factor #3: Layer 2 ecosystem growth Layer 2 ecosystems are reaching their peak transaction activity. The Ethereum blockchain is the settlement layer and the foundation for the functioning of this entire ecosystem. Growth in Total Value Locked in L2 networks can be seen as a fundamentally positive factor, reinforcing confidence in smart contracts and the value of Ethereum itself in the eyes of users and investors. Factor #4: Increasing role of Ethereum treasury holders For me, Bitmine Immersion Technologies ( BMNR ) remains the key player in this industry. I recently recommended them as a “Buy,” meaning an upgrade from a “Hold” rating. BMNR is essentially a copy of Strategy ( MSTR ). Their main difference is their choice of underlying asset (Ethereum instead of Bitcoin). The main goal of Bitmine is to accumulate Ethereum in the amount of 5% of the total issuance. Based on Bitmine's latest press release , they hold about 3.73 million Ethereum tokens with a total investment of $12.1 billion. When it comes to technical analysis of Ethereum, we would refer to the 1W timeframe chart. It shows that the global uptrend channel remains relevant. The lower boundary is supported by a key support zone ($2,112–$2,463). I consider this zone to be a potential area from where the price will rebound back up to the upper boundary, currently around $4910. Considering that the current ETH-USD quotes are already close to the lower boundary, this is a moment in the market cycle that could mark a reversal of the medium-term trend from bearish to bullish. Technical analysis of the Ethereum chart on the weekly timeframe Overview of Ethereum ETFs In fact, the Ethereum ETF market is still in its infancy, which is why there aren't that many products available on the market. I have highlighted only four funds in my review with a capitalization ((AUM)) exceeding $1 billion. Apart from Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF and iShares Ethereum Trust ETF, these are Fidelity Ethereum Fund ETF ( FETH ) and Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF ( ETHE ). Below is a comparison table of their key indicators . I think it's important to ignore ETHE. There's no reason to pay a 2.5% annual fee (10 times more than ETHA) for the same asset when there's a Mini version with the ticker ETH. Ticker ETHA FETH ETH ETHE Fund Name iShares Ethereum Trust BlackRock Fidelity Ethereum Fund Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust Grayscale Ethereum Trust Issuer BlackRock Fidelity Grayscale Grayscale Expense Ratio 0.25% 0.25% 0.15% 2.5% AUM $11.43B $2.29B $2.24B $2.93B Liquidity Very High High Medium/High High Key Feature The undisputed market leader. The best spreads for trading large amounts. Industry standard Uses its own custodian (Fidelity Digital Assets), diversifying storage risks (not Coinbase) The most profitable for long-term holding. Created as a low-cost alternative to the old trust A "legacy" of the past. Abnormally high fees. Assets are melting away due to an outflow of investors to cheaper funds Fundamental similarities and differences between ETH and ETHA The Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust and the iShares Ethereum Trust are two funds that, to my mind, represent the most attractive spot holders of the Ethereum cryptocurrency. That is their main similarity, and it is why their total return performance correlates with each other. In spite of this significant similarity, ETH and ETHA have a number of fundamental differences. These differences can be used to determine which of these ETFs is more suitable for a particular type of investor. There are three key points that distinguish ETH from ETHA. Point #1: Commission This is the simplest criterion for determining that ETH is the cheaper option, as its commission is 0.15% per annum, whereas ETHA's commission is 0.25%. However, when the latter fund was launched, there was a preferential period with a commission of 0.12%. This concession lasted until July 2025, after which it reverted to the full 0.25%. Point #2: Fund size Based on liquidity indicators, ETHA is the undisputed leader among the analyzed Ethereum ETFs. Its trading volume is huge ( average daily dollar volume of $1.21 billion compared to $192.88 million for ETH ), and its spread is minimal. When actively trading or investing large sums, this is an important criterion. Nevertheless, ETH cannot be considered an illiquid fund. It was created as a spin-off from the main Grayscale fund to offer the market a cheaper alternative for investing in Ethereum. While ETHA has $11.43 billion in AUM, ETH has $2.24 billion. That makes it the largest Ethereum-based ETF on the market. Point #3: Staking Perhaps the most significant difference between ETH and ETHA is the presence of a staking feature. In October 2025, it was reported that the Grayscale management team had begun the staking process in order to generate passive income from the fund's spot Ethereum holdings. Now, the fund will passively place assets through institutional custodians and a network of validator providers to ensure the security of the underlying protocols while maintaining the long-term stability of the network. Staking refers to the process of locking cryptocurrency in a blockchain network to verify transactions and earn rewards. BlackRock (iShares) does not use this feature, as the fund maintains a conservative position on owning real Ethereum. Why do I choose Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust? If maximum reliability and choosing the best financial brand are your most important criteria, I believe ETHA is the right choice. BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world. Furthermore, ETHA is a good choice if you are investing a very large amount of money and actively trading this asset on the market. In this case, the liquidity of trades and minimal spreads are important to you. I prefer ETH, mainly because of the potential for additional returns from Ethereum staking. It is worth considering the advantage of lower fees (0.15% vs. 0.25%), a difference of 0.1%. But, given the movements in the price of Ethereum, the difference is not that significant. Since I do not intend to actively trade cryptocurrency ETFs, spreads and trading liquidity are not that important to me. Speaking about the potential of Ethereum staking, let me elaborate on this in more detail. Today, this mechanism is offered by various crypto exchanges, operators, and crypto wallets. The Ethereum staking feature is available on Ledger's hardware wallet. Today, investing in Ethereum staking through its account can yield up to 3.61% per annum. To do this, there are eight intermediaries, each with its own terms and conditions for staking . Staking is also offered by major exchanges. Coinbase, for example, has more modest terms for financing under its ETH staking program, providing an opportunity to earn an annual return on investment of 1.9% . The crypto exchange says that on December 4, 2025, there were a total of 35.7 million tokens staked. However, this data is for all operators. No public data on Coinbase's share is available. According to various estimates, it's about 2–4 million tokens. Other terms are offered by the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance. Its Ethereum staking program offers the opportunity to earn a return of 2.6% per annum . But the downside of this product is that income payments are made in WBETH tokens. The crypto exchange says that as of December 4, 2025, a combined total of 3.166 million tokens have been invested through their infrastructure. Risks of the investment thesis Like other Ethereum ETFs, buying ETH comes with risks related to the volatility of the cryptocurrency's price. The fundamental analysis I did points to some big factors that could push up the asset's price. But from a technical analysis perspective, I do not rule out an alternative forecast, which suggests that Ethereum prices could fall to the support zone ($2,112-$2,463). Considering that the current price of Ethereum is $3,200, this could represent a potential decline of 23% to 34%. Given the 100% correlation between ETH and the price of Ethereum, the decline in the value of the ETF would be the same, at 23% to 34%. That is why choosing the right moment and entry point is important for every investor. I recommend using the Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) strategy. With this strategy, you don't try to guess the “local bottom” of the market; you simply divide your planned capital into equal parts (for example, into 2-4 positions) and enter each trade within 2-4 months, independent of the price of Ethereum. Conclusion Therefore, based on my fundamental analysis of a direct comparison between ETH and ETHA, it is possible to identify significant differences between these seemingly similar spot ETFs with Ethereum as their underlying asset. Between these two funds, I chose ETH because this asset has the potential to generate additional returns from staking cryptocurrency holdings. I estimate that this operation could bring an additional 2%–4% per annum, which is a significant difference compared to other spot ETFs on Ethereum. Given that the total returns of each fund in this market are similar (the difference is no more than 0.1% per annum), Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF has a competitive advantage in the long term.