IBIT and ETHA Both Down Over 30% YTD: Same Fee Rate but Diverging Risk Profiles
N.R. Finch
BlackRock's bitcoin ETF (IBIT) and ether ETF (ETHA) have both fallen more than 30% over the past year, yet their max drawdowns diverge by 13 percentage points — same fee, similar wrapper, sharply different risk profiles.
Both lost a third — where did the money go?
As of June 3, 2026, IBIT's one-year total return is -38.70%; ETHA's is -31.80%.
In plain terms = a $1,000 stake in IBIT is now worth $613; in ETHA, $682 — ETHA actually kept $69 more on paper.
But max drawdown tells a different story: ETHA plunged to -62.90% at its worst, versus -49.40% for IBIT. This means → an ETHA holder saw nearly 63% of their account evaporate at the panic low.
Same fee, same structure — what's actually different?
Both funds launched in 2024, charge 0.25%, involve no staking or yield, and each holds a single asset.
The scale gap is stark: IBIT manages roughly $51.2 billion; ETHA about $5.52 billion — a 9-to-1 ratio.
This reflects a different tier of market acceptance: capital treats bitcoin as the "gateway" crypto allocation, far ahead of ether.
Why is the volatility gap so wide?
Beta — how much a fund amplifies broad-market swings — sits at 2.47 for ETHA and 2.03 for IBIT; both far above 1.
This means → for every 1% move in the S&P 500, ETHA theoretically swings about 2.5× and IBIT about 2×. The ether fund's roller-coaster ride is markedly rougher.
In plain terms = both are high-volatility products, but ETHA layers extra volatility on top of IBIT's. The risk tolerance required is not the same.
What dragged each one down in this sell-off?
Bitcoin peaked near $126,000 around October 2025, then pulled back on tariff uncertainty, tech-stock weakness, and panic selling.
Ether fell further. The main driver: the Fed's cautious stance on rates pushed investors out of speculative assets.
This reflects a different position in the "risk food chain": bitcoin behaves more like digital gold; ether trades more like a high-beta tech stock.
Which one to pick — what's the core distinction?
IBIT tracks bitcoin's status as the dominant digital asset — deeper liquidity, more contained drawdowns.
ETHA offers exposure to Ethereum's programmable blockchain — a base-layer network that runs smart contracts and decentralized apps — with historically steeper drawdowns.
Whether either can stabilize at current levels depends on whether demand for their respective underlying crypto assets regroups. Fee and structure are not the decision variable — the risk personality of the underlying asset is.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.