Ethereum (ETH) climbed 2.2% on Monday to $2,370, breaking above its 50-day moving average for the first time since early March. Spot ETH ETF assets crossed $14.1 billion this week, a 41% increase since the SEC approved staking-yield distribution inside ETF wrappers on February 14. BlackRock's ETHA accounts for $7.8 billion of the total; Fidelity's FETH stands at $2.9 billion.
On-chain activity is rebounding in tandem. Ethereum daily transaction count has averaged 1.41 million over the past seven days, up 18% from March, while gas fees have stabilized in the 18-22 gwei range. Total value locked in Ethereum DeFi protocols climbed to $98 billion, up from $79 billion at the start of the year. Lido's staked-ETH (stETH) supply reached 11.4 million ETH, with combined LST/LRT supply at 16.2 million.
Why ETF Staking Matters
Pre-approval, ETH ETFs lagged BTC ETFs because they could not pass through the network's native staking yield (currently 3.4% annualized). Post-approval, ETHA and FETH each pass approximately 2.7% net yield to shareholders after a 0.7% fee adjustment. The change has effectively re-rated ether as a yield-bearing alternative reserve asset in U.S. brokerage accounts. Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani projects spot ETH ETF AUM will reach $25 billion by year-end.