Franklin Ethereum Trust 10-K for FY2026
Franklin Ethereum Trust (EZET)
10-K
2026-06-29
For: 2026-03-31
View Original
Added on
June 30, 2026
About this 10-K
Franklin Ethereum Trust filed this 10-K on June 29, 2026, covering the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 (FY2026).
Headline figures
Fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, as reported in this filing, compared with the same period a year earlier where the filing states it.
- Net loss
- $8.09M
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
or
Commission File Number: 001-042169
Franklin ETHEREUM ETF
A Series of Franklin Ethereum Trust
SPONSORED BY FRANKLIN HOLDINGS, LLC
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| | | |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
(650 ) 312-2000
(Address of principal executive offices, telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class: | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered: | ||
| | | |
Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒ Yes ☐ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). ☒ Yes ☐ No
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large Accelerated Filer | ☐ | Accelerated Filer | ☐ |
| | | | |
| | ☒ | Smaller Reporting Company | |
| | | | |
| Emerging Growth Company | | | |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.). ☐ Yes ☒ No
As of September 30, 2025, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s shares held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $91,611,000 , based upon the last reported sales price for such date on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.
The registrant had 2,700,000 outstanding shares as of June 9, 2026.
Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.
STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This annual report on Form 10-K includes statements which relate to future events or future performance. In some cases, you can identify such forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All statements (other than statements of historical fact) included in this report that address activities, events or developments that may occur in the future, including such matters as changes in commodity prices and market conditions (for ether and the Shares), the Fund’s operations, the Sponsor’s plans and references to the Fund’s future success and other similar matters are forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions. Actual events or results may differ materially. These statements are based upon certain assumptions and analyses made by the Sponsor on the basis of its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Whether or not actual results and developments will conform to the Sponsor’s expectations and predictions, however, is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the special considerations discussed in this report, general economic, market and business conditions, changes in laws or regulations, including those concerning taxes, made by governmental authorities or regulatory bodies, and other world economic and political developments. All forward-looking statements made in this report are qualified by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments the Sponsor anticipates will be realized or, even if substantially realized, will result in the expected consequences to, or have the expected effects on, the Fund’s operations or the value of the Shares. None of the Trust, the Fund, the Sponsor, or the Trustee or their respective affiliates is under a duty to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform such statements to actual results or to a change in the Sponsor’s expectations or predictions, other than as required by applicable laws.
EMERGING GROWTH COMPANY STATUS
The Trust is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”). For as long as the Trust is an emerging growth company, the Trust may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes– Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in the Fund’s periodic reports and audited financial statements in its prospectus, exemptions from the requirements of holding advisory “say-on-pay” votes on executive compensation and shareholder advisory votes on “golden parachute” compensation and exemption from any rules requiring mandatory audit firm rotation and auditor discussion and analysis and, unless otherwise determined by the SEC, any new audit rules adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
Under the JOBS Act, the Trust will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of:
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the last day of the fiscal year during which the Trust has total annual gross revenues of $1.235 billion or more;
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the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of its initial public offering;
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the date on which the Trust has, during the previous three-year period, issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt; or
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the date on which the Trust is deemed to be a “large-accelerated filer” (generally, an issuer that (1) has more than $700 million in outstanding equity held by non-affiliates and (2) has been subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) for at least 12 calendar months and has filed at least one annual report on Form 10-K.)
The JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can utilize the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) for complying with new or revised accounting standards.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM ETF
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
PART I
The Franklin Ethereum Trust (the “Trust”) was formed as a Delaware statutory trust on February 8, 2024, and is governed by the provisions of an Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, as amended (“Declaration of Trust”), dated as of May 30, 2024. The Trust currently offers a single series, the Franklin Ethereum ETF (the “Fund”). The Fund issues common units of beneficial interest (“Shares”), which represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in and ownership of the Fund. The Shares are listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX Exchange” or the “Exchange”) under the symbol “EZET.” Shares are not obligations of, and are not guaranteed by, the Sponsor or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates.
The Fund seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of ether. The Fund seeks to reflect such performance before payment of the Fund's expenses and liabilities. The Shares have been designed to remove obstacles associated with the complexities and operational burdens involved in a direct investment in ether by providing an investment with a value that reflects the price of the ether owned by the Fund at such time, less the Fund’s expenses. The Fund is not a proxy for a direct investment in ether. Rather, the Shares are intended to provide a cost-effective alternative means of obtaining investment exposure through the securities markets that is similar to an investment in ether.
The Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) serves as the Fund’s Administrator, Transfer Agent, and the Cash Custodian. The Ether Custodian is Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC (“Coinbase Custody”). CSC Delaware Trust Company, a subsidiary of the Corporation Service Company (the “Trustee”), is the sole trustee of the Trust. Coinbase Inc., an affiliate of Coinbase Custody, serves as the prime broker (“Prime Broker”). Franklin Distributors, LLC is the marketing agent of the Fund (the “Marketing Agent”).
The Fund is a passive investment vehicle and is not a leveraged product. The Sponsor does not actively manage the ether held by the Fund. This means that the Sponsor does not sell ether at times when its price is high or acquire ether at low prices in the expectation of future price increases. The Fund will not utilize leverage, derivatives or similar instruments or transactions in seeking to meet its investment objective. The Fund is not managed like a corporation or an active investment vehicle. The Trust and the Fund do not have any officers, directors, or employees. The Trust is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”) and is not required to register under such act. The Fund does not and will not hold or trade in commodity futures contracts regulated under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). The Fund is not a commodity pool for purposes of the CEA and none of the Sponsor, Trustee or the Marketing Agent is subject to regulation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity pool operator or a commodity trading advisor under the CEA in connection with the shares.
The Fund issues Shares on a continuous basis. A block of 50,000 Shares is called a “Creation Unit.” The Fund issues and redeems Shares only in blocks of 50,000 or multiples thereof based on the quantity of ether attributable to each Share (net of accrued but unpaid renumeration due to the Sponsor (the “Sponsor's Fee”) and any accrued but unpaid expenses or liabilities). These transactions take place in exchange cash. Creation Units are offered continuously at the net asset value per Share (“NAV”) for 50,000 Shares on the day that an order to create or redeem a Creation Unit is accepted by the Fund. Only institutional investors that become authorized participants by entering into a contract with the Sponsor and the Administrator (“Authorized Participants”) may purchase or redeem Creation Units. Shares will be offered to the public from time to time at varying prices that will reflect the price of ether and the trading price of the Shares on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. at the time of the offer.
ORGANIZATION
The Trust is organized as a Delaware statutory trust. CSC Delaware Trust Company, a subsidiary of the Corporation Service Company, is the Trustee of the Trust.
The Trust was formed and is operated in a manner such that a series is liable only for obligations attributable to such series. This means that Shareholders of the Fund are not subject to the losses or liabilities of any other series, as may be created from time to time, and shareholders of any such other series are not subject to the losses or liabilities of the Fund. Accordingly, the debts, liabilities, obligations, and expenses (collectively, “Claims”) incurred, contracted for or otherwise existing solely with respect to the Fund are enforceable only against the assets of the Fund and not against any other series as may be established or the Trust generally. This limitation on liability is referred to as the “Inter-Series Limitation on Liability.” The Inter-Series Limitation on Liability is expressly provided for under the Delaware Statutory Trust Act, which provides that if certain conditions are met, then the debts of any series are enforceable only against the assets of such series and not against the assets of any other series or the Trust generally. For the avoidance of doubt, the Inter-Series Limitation on Liability applies to each series of the Trust, including the Fund and any other series that may be established.
Each Share represents a fractional undivided beneficial interest in the net assets of the Fund. Upon redemption of the Shares, the applicable Authorized Participant is paid solely out of the funds and property of the Fund. All Shares are transferable, fully paid, and non-assessable. The assets of the Fund consist primarily of ether held by the Ether Custodian on behalf of the Fund and cash. Creation Units are redeemed by the Fund in exchange for an amount of ether or cash equal to the amount of ether represented by the aggregate number of Shares redeemed. The Trust is not a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act and is not required to register under such act. The Sponsor is not registered with the SEC as an investment adviser and is not subject to regulation by the SEC as such in connection with its activities with respect to the Trust and the Fund.
The Fund is a passive investment vehicle and is not a leveraged product. The Sponsor does not actively manage the ether held by the Fund. The ether held by the Fund will only be sold (1) on an as-needed basis to pay the Fund’s expenses and to meet redemption requests, (2) in the event the Fund terminates and liquidates its assets, or (3) as otherwise required by law or regulation. The sale of ether by the Fund is a taxable event to Shareholders.
Under the Declaration of Trust, Shareholders have no voting rights except as the Sponsor may consider desirable and so authorize in its sole discretion.
The Sponsor may terminate the Trust or the Fund in its sole discretion. The Sponsor will give written notice of the termination of the Trust or the Fund, specifying the date of termination, to Shareholders of the Trust or the Fund, as applicable, at least 30 days prior to the termination of the Trust or the Fund. The Sponsor will, within a reasonable time after such termination, sell all the Fund’s ether not already distributed to Authorized Participants redeeming Creation Units, if any, in such a manner to effectuate orderly sales. The Sponsor shall not be liable for or responsible in any way for depreciation or loss incurred by reason of any sale or sales made in accordance with the provisions of the Declaration of Trust. The Sponsor may suspend its sales of the Fund’s ether upon the occurrence of unusual or unforeseen circumstances.
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of ether before payment of the Fund’s expenses and liabilities. The Shares are intended to offer a convenient means of making an investment similar to an investment in ether relative to acquiring, holding and trading ether directly on a peer-to-peer or other basis or via a digital asset platform. The Shares have been designed to remove obstacles associated with the complexities and operational burdens involved in a direct investment in ether by providing an investment with a value that reflects the price of the ether owned by the Fund at such time, less the Fund’s expenses. The Fund is not a proxy for a direct investment in ether. Rather, the Shares are intended to provide a cost-effective alternative means of obtaining investment exposure through the securities markets that is similar to an investment in ether. The Fund is a passive investment vehicle and is not a leveraged product. The Sponsor does not actively manage the ether held by the Fund. This means that the Sponsor does not sell ether at times when its price is high or acquire ether at low prices in the expectation of future price increases. The Fund will not utilize leverage, derivatives or similar instruments or transactions in seeking to meet its investment objective.
An investment in Shares is:
Backed by ether held by the Ether Custodian on behalf of the Fund.
The Shares are backed by the assets of the Fund. The Ether Custodian keeps custody of all of the Fund’s ether, other than that which is maintained in the Trading Balance with the Prime Broker, in the Vault Balance. The Ether Custodian keeps the private keys associated with the Fund’s ether in the Vault Balance. The hardware, software, systems, and procedures of the Ether Custodian may not be available or cost-effective for many investors to access directly. A portion of the Fund’s ether holdings and cash holdings from time to time may temporarily be held with the Prime Broker, an affiliate of the Ether Custodian, in the Trading Balance, in connection with creations and redemptions of Creation Units and the sale of ether to pay the Sponsor’s fee and Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, to the extent applicable, and in extraordinary circumstances, in connection with the liquidation of the Fund’s ether. These periodic holdings held in the Trading Balance with the Prime Broker represent an omnibus claim on the Prime Broker’s ether held on behalf of clients; these holdings exist across a combination of omnibus hot wallets, omnibus cold wallets or in accounts in the Prime Broker’s name on a trading venue (including third-party venues and the Prime Broker’s own execution venue) where the Prime Broker executes orders to buy and sell ether on behalf of clients.
As convenient and easy to handle as any other investment in shares.
Investors may purchase and sell Shares through traditional securities brokerage accounts, and can avoid the complexities of handling ether directly (e.g., managing wallets and public and private keys themselves, or interfacing with a trading platform), which some investors may not prefer or may find unfamiliar.
Exchange listed.
The Shares are listed and traded on the Cboe BZX Exchange under the ticker symbol “EZET.”
CALCULATION OF NAV; VALUATION OF ETHER AND THE CF BENCHMARKS INDEX
The Sponsor has the exclusive authority to determine the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”). The Sponsor has delegated to the Administrator the responsibility to calculate the NAV of the Fund, based on a pricing source selected by the Sponsor. In determining the Fund’s NAV, the Administrator will value the ether held by the Fund based on the Index, unless the Sponsor in its sole discretion determines that the Index is unreliable. The CF Benchmarks Index shall constitute the Index, unless the CF Benchmarks Index is not available or the Sponsor in its sole discretion determines the CF Benchmarks Index is unreliable as the Index and therefore determines not to use the CF Benchmarks Index as the Index. If the CF Benchmarks Index is not available or the Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that the CF Benchmarks Index is unreliable (referred to herein as a “Fair Value Event”), the Fund’s holdings may be fair valued by the Sponsor.
On each Business Day, as soon as practicable after 4:00 PM Eastern Time (“ET”), the Administrator evaluates the ether held by the Fund as reflected by the CF Benchmarks Index and determines the NAV of the Fund. For purposes of making these calculations, a Business Day means any day other than a day when the Cboe BZX Exchange is closed for regular trading.
The CF Benchmarks Index employed by the Fund is calculated on each Business Day by aggregating the notional value of ether trading activity across major ether spot exchanges. The CF Benchmarks Index is designed based on the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks and is a Registered Benchmark under the UK Benchmark Regulations (“BMR”). The administrator of the CF Benchmarks Index is CF Benchmarks Ltd. (the “Index Administrator”), a UK incorporated company, authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) of the UK as a Benchmark Administrator, under UK BMR. The CF Benchmarks Index serves as a once-a-day benchmark rate of the U.S. dollar price of ether (USD/ETH), calculated as of 4:00 p.m. ET. The CF Benchmarks Index aggregates the trade flow of several ether exchange platforms, during an observation window between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET into the U.S. dollar price of one ether at 4:00 p.m. ET. Specifically, the CF Benchmarks Index is calculated based on the “Relevant Transactions” (as defined below) of all of its constituent ether exchanges, which were, as of March 31, 2026, Bitstamp, Kraken, itBit, Gemini, Coinbase, LMAX Digitial (the “Constituent Platforms”), Crypto.com, and Bullish Exchange and which may change from time to time, as follows:
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All Relevant Transactions are added to a joint list, recording the time of execution, and trade price for each transaction.
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The list is partitioned by timestamp into 12 equally-sized time intervals of 5 (five) minute length.
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For each partition separately, the volume-weighted median trade price is calculated from the trade prices and sizes of all Relevant Transactions, i.e., across all Constituent Platforms. A volume-weighted median differs from a standard median in that a weighting factor, in this case trade size, is factored into the calculation.
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The ETHUSD_RR is then determined by the equally-weighted average of the volume medians of all partitions.
The CF Benchmarks Index is solely calculated from spot Ether-USD transactions conducted on Constituent Platforms within the observation window of 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET, it does not include any futures prices in its methodology. A “Relevant Transaction” is any cryptocurrency versus U.S. dollar spot trade that occurs during the observation window between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET on a Constituent Platform in the ETH/USD pair that is reported and disseminated by a Constituent Platform through its publicly available Application Programming Interface (“API”) and observed by the Index Administrator. Although the CF Benchmarks Index is intended to accurately capture the market price of ether, third parties may be able to purchase and sell ether on public or private markets and such transactions may take place at prices materially higher or lower than the CF Benchmarks Index price.
FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND
The Fund’s only ordinary recurring expense is the fee paid to the Sponsor at an annual rate of 0.19% (i.e., 0.19%/365 days) of the daily net asset value of the Fund. In exchange for the Sponsor’s fee, the Sponsor assumes the ordinary fees and expenses incurred by the Fund, including but not limited to the following: the fees charged by the Administrator, the Marketing Agent, the Custodians and the Trustee, Cboe BZX Exchange listing fees, typical maintenance and transaction fees of the Depository Trust Company (“DTC”), SEC registration fees, printing and mailing costs, tax reporting fees, audit fees, license fees and expenses, up to $500,000 per annum in ordinary legal fees and expenses. The Sponsor also pays the costs of the Fund’s organization and the initial offering costs and may not seek reimbursement of such costs.
The Sponsor’s fee is accrued daily at an annualized rate equal to 0.19% (i.e., 0.19%/365 days) of the net asset value of the Fund and is payable at least quarterly in arrears in U.S. dollars. The Sponsor may, at its sole discretion and from time to time, waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s fee for stated periods of time. The Sponsor is under no obligation to waive any portion of its fees and any such waiver shall create no obligation to waive any such fees during any period not covered by the waiver. The Fund sells ether as needed to pay the Sponsor’s fee. The Fund bears transaction costs, including any Ethereum network fees or other similar transaction fees, in connection with any sales of ether necessary to pay the Sponsor’s fee, as well as other Fund expenses (if any) that are not assumed by the Sponsor (expenses assumed by the Sponsor are specified above). Any Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees incurred in connection with the creation or redemption of Creation Units are borne by the Authorized Participant. Fees accrued for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 were $108,260. In the future, if the Sponsor decides to waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s fee, Shareholders will be notified in a prospectus supplement, in the Fund’s periodic reports and/or on the Sponsor’s website for the Fund.
The Sponsor is not required to pay any extraordinary or non-routine expenses. Extraordinary expenses are fees and expenses which are unexpected or unusual in nature, such as legal claims and liabilities and litigation costs or indemnification or other unanticipated expenses. Extraordinary fees and expenses also include material expenses which are not currently anticipated obligations of the Fund. The Fund is responsible for the payment of such expenses to the extent any such expenses are incurred. Routine operational, administrative, and other ordinary expenses are not deemed extraordinary expenses. In addition, the Fund may incur certain other non-recurring expenses that are not assumed by the Sponsor (expenses assumed by the Sponsor are described above), including but not limited to, taxes and governmental charges, any applicable brokerage commissions, Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees that qualify as extraordinary or non-routine expenses as described above, financing fees, expenses and costs of any extraordinary services performed by the Sponsor (or any other service provider) on behalf of the Fund to protect the Fund or the interests of owners of the beneficial interests in the Shares (“Shareholders”) (including, for example, in connection with any fork of the Ethereum blockchain, any Incidental Rights and any IR Virtual Currency), any indemnification of the Cash Custodian, Ether Custodian, Prime Broker, Administrator or other agents, service providers or counterparties of the Trust or the Fund and extraordinary legal fees and expenses, including any legal fees and expenses incurred in connection with litigation, regulatory enforcement or investigation matters or legal expenses in excess of $500,000 per year. The Sponsor may determine in its sole discretion to assume legal fees and expenses of the Fund in excess of the $500,000 per annum stipulated in the Sponsor Agreement. To the extent that the Sponsor does not voluntarily assume such fees and expenses, they are the responsibility of the Fund. The Fund’s organizational and offering costs are borne by the Sponsor and, as such, are the sole responsibility of the Sponsor. The Sponsor will not seek reimbursement or otherwise require the Fund, the Trust, the Trustee, or any Shareholder to assume any liability, duty, or obligation in connection with any such organizational and offering costs. Because the Fund does not have any income, it will need to sell ether to cover the Sponsor’s fee and expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, if any. Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor shall accrue daily and be payable by the Fund to the Sponsor at least quarterly in arrears. The Fund may also be subject to other liabilities (for example, as a result of litigation) that have also not been assumed by the Sponsor. The only source of funds to cover those liabilities are sales of ether held by the Fund. Even if there are no expenses other than those assumed by the Sponsor, and there are no other liabilities of the Fund, the Fund will still need to sell ether to pay the Sponsor’s fee. The result of these sales is a decrease in the amount of ether represented by each Share.
To cover the Sponsor’s fee and expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, the Sponsor or its delegate will cause the Fund to convert ether into U.S. dollars generally at the price available through the Prime Broker’s Coinbase Prime service (less applicable trading fees) through the Trading Platform which the Sponsor is able to obtain using commercially reasonable efforts. The number of ethers represented by a Share will decline each time the Fund pays the Sponsor’s fee, or any Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor by transferring or selling ethers. The quantity of ethers sold to permit payment of the Sponsor’s fee or Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, will vary from time to time depending on the level of the Fund’s expenses and the value of ethers held by the Fund. Assuming that the Fund is a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes, each delivery or sale of ethers by the Fund for the payment of Fund expenses generally are a taxable event to Fund Shareholders. The Fund expects that any trading commissions associated with block trading, if applicable, are allocated across the Fund, and other client accounts managed by affiliates of the Sponsor (including registered and unregistered funds and separately managed accounts (“Client Accounts”)) on a pro rata basis.
CREATION AND REDEMPTION OF SHARES
The Fund creates and redeems Shares on a continuous basis but only in Creation Units consisting of 50,000 Shares or multiples thereof. Only Authorized Participants, which are registered broker-dealers who have entered into written agreements with the Sponsor and the Administrator, can place orders. The Fund will engage in ether transactions for converting cash into ether (in association with purchase orders) and ether into cash (in association with redemption orders). The Fund will conduct its ether purchase and sale transactions by, in its sole discretion, choosing to trade directly with third parties (each, a “Ether Trading Counterparty”), who are not registered broker-dealers pursuant to written agreements between such Ether Trading Counterparties and the Fund, or choosing to trade through the Prime Broker acting in an agency capacity with third parties through its Coinbase Prime service pursuant to the Prime Broker Agreement. An Ether Trading Counterparty may be an affiliate of an Authorized Participant. As of March 31, 2026, in addition to the Prime Broker described above, the Trust on behalf of the Fund had entered into a Master Purchase and Sale Agreement for Digital Assets (the “Master Agreement”) with JSCT, LLC (“Jane Street”) and a Liquidity Provider Agreement with Virtu Financial Singapore Pte., Ltd. (“Virtu”) to allow the Fund to enter into spot purchase or sale transactions in ether on a principal to principal basis. Additional Ether Trading Counterparties may be added from time to time, subject to the discretion of the Sponsor. Virtu is under common control and ownership with Virtu Americas LLC and Jane Street is under common control and ownership with Jane Street Capital, LLC. Both Virtu Americas LLC and Jane Street Capital, LLC serve as an Authorized Participant of the Fund as of March 31, 2026.
The Authorized Participants deliver only cash to create Shares and receive only cash when redeeming Shares. Further, Authorized Participants do not directly or indirectly purchase, hold, deliver, or receive ether as part of the creation or redemption process or otherwise direct the Fund or a third-party with respect to purchasing, holding, delivering, or receiving ether as part of the creation or redemption process. The Fund creates Shares by receiving ether from a third-party that is not the Authorized Participant and the Fund—not the Authorized Participant—is responsible for selecting the third-party to deliver the ether. Further, the third-party does not act as an agent of the Authorized Participant with respect to the delivery of the ether to the Fund or at the direction of the Authorized Participant with respect to the delivery of the ether to the Fund. The Fund redeems shares by delivering ether to a third-party that is not the Authorized Participant and the Fund—not the Authorized Participant—is responsible for selecting the third-party to receive the ether. Further, the third-party does not act as an agent of the Authorized Participant with respect to the receipt of the ether from the Fund or at the direction of the Authorized Participant with respect to the receipt of the ether from the Fund. The third-party is unaffiliated with the Fund and the Sponsor.
Creation Procedures
The Fund issues Shares only in Creation Units of 50,000 or multiples thereof, based on the quantity of ether attributable to each Share (net of accrued but unpaid Sponsor’s fee and any accrued but unpaid expenses or liabilities), solely in exchange for cash. On any Business Day, an Authorized Participant may place an order with the Transfer Agent to create one or more Creation Units. Purchase orders must be placed by 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, or the close of regular trading on the Exchange, whichever is earlier. The day on which an order is received by the Transfer Agent is considered the purchase order date.
A creation transaction fee is imposed to offset the transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance of Creation Units. The Authorized Participant pays to the Administrator (1) a transaction fee on each purchase order and (2) the transfer, processing and other transaction costs charged by the Ether Custodian in connection with the issuance of Creation Units for such purchase order (including Ethereum network fees) (“Custody Transaction Costs”). The Administrator reimburses any Custody Transaction Costs to the Ether Custodian according to the amounts invoiced by the Ether Custodian. Any Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees incurred in connection with the creation of Creation Units are borne by the Authorized Participant.
The date the order is received will determine the estimated cash amount (the “Creation Unit Deposit Amount”) the Authorized Participant needs to deposit and the ether amount (the “Creation Ether Amount”) the Fund needs to purchase from the Ether Trading Counterparty or through the Prime Broker. The final cash amounts are determined after the net asset value of the Fund is struck and the Fund’s ether transactions have settled. Fractions of an ether smaller than 0.00000001 (known as a 10 “gwei”) are disregarded for purposes of the computation of the Creation Ether Amount. Orders received after the order cutoff time on a Business Day will not be accepted and should be resubmitted on the following Business Day.
If the Sponsor (or its designee) accepts the purchase order, it will transmit to the Authorized Participant, via electronic mail message or other electronic communication, no later than 2:45 p.m. ET on the date such purchase order is received, or deemed received, a copy of the purchase order endorsed “Accepted” by the Sponsor (or its designee) and indicating the Creation Unit Deposit Amount that the Authorized Participant must deliver to the Cash Custodian or Prime Broker in exchange for each Creation Unit. Prior to the Sponsor’s acceptance as specified above, a purchase order will only represent the Authorized Participant’s unilateral offer to deposit cash in exchange for Creation Units and will have no binding effect upon the Fund, the Sponsor, the Transfer Agent, the Ether Custodian or any other party.
The Creation Unit Deposit Amount necessary for the creation of a Creation Unit changes from day to day. On each day that the Exchange is open for regular trading, the Administrator adjusts the cash amount constituting the Creation Unit Deposit Amount and the quantity of ether constituting the Creation Ether Amount as appropriate to reflect sales of ether, any loss of ether that may occur, and accrued expenses. The computation is made by the Administrator as promptly as practicable after 4:00 PM ET. The Administrator determines the Creation Unit Deposit Amount for a given day by multiplying the NAV by the number of Shares in each Creation Unit (50,000) and determine the Creation Ether Amount for a given day by dividing the Creation Unit Deposit Amount for that day by that day’s CF Benchmarks Index. The Creation Unit Deposit Amount and the Creation Ether Amount so determined is made available to all Authorized Participants and Ether Trading Counterparties, and is made available on the Sponsor’s website for the Shares.
On the date of the purchase order, the Fund chooses, in its sole discretion, to enter into a transaction with an Ether Trading Counterparty or the Prime Broker to buy ether in exchange for the cash proceeds from such purchase order. For settlement of a creation (which is generally expected to be the trade date plus one (T+1) Business Day), the Fund delivers Shares to the Authorized Participant in exchange for cash received from the Authorized Participant. Meanwhile, the Ether Trading Counterparty or Prime Broker, as applicable, delivers the required ether pursuant to its trade with the Fund into the Fund’s Trading Balance with the Prime Broker in exchange for cash. In the event the Fund has not been able to successfully execute and complete settlement of an ether transaction by the settlement date of the purchase order, the settlement date may be delayed. With respect to a purchase order, as between the Fund and the Authorized Participant, the Authorized Participant is responsible for the dollar cost of the difference between the ether price utilized in calculating NAV on the trade date and the price at which the Fund acquires the ether to the extent the price realized in buying the ether is higher than the ether price utilized in the NAV. To the extent the price realized in buying the ether is lower than the price utilized in the NAV, the Authorized Participant shall keep the dollar impact of any such difference.
Whether the purchase of ether was entered into with an Ether Trading Counterparty or via the Prime Broker, such party delivers ether related to such transaction to the Fund’s Trading Balance. This transfer is an “off-chain” transaction that is recorded in the books and records of the Prime Broker.
Because the Fund’s Trading Balance may not be funded with cash on the trade date for the purchase of ether associated with the purchase order, the Fund may borrow Trade Credits in the form of cash from the Trade Credit Lender pursuant to the Trade Financing Agreement or may require the Authorized Participant to deliver the required cash for the purchase order on the trade date. The extension of Trade Credits on the trade date allows the Fund to purchase ether through the Prime Broker on the trade date, with such ether being deposited in the Fund’s Trading Balance. For settlement of a creation, the Fund delivers Shares to the Authorized Participant in exchange for cash received from the Authorized Participant. To the extent Trade Credits were utilized, the Fund uses the cash to repay the Trade Credits borrowed from the Trade Credit Lender. Any financing fee owed to the Trade Credit Lender is deemed part of trade execution costs and embedded in the trade price for each transaction. Any trade financing fees incurred in connection with the creation of Creation Units are borne by the Authorized Participant.
Upon the deposit by the Ether Trading Counterparty or the Prime Broker of the corresponding amount of ether with the Fund’s account at the Prime Broker, and the payment of the applicable transaction fee, Custody Transaction Costs, and of any expenses, taxes or charges (such as stamp taxes or stock transfer taxes or fees), the Transfer Agent will deliver the appropriate number of Creation Units to the DTC account of the depositing Authorized Participant. As of March 31, 2026, Jane Street Capital, LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Virtu Americas LLC, Citadel Securities LLC, and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC have each executed an Authorized Participant Agreement and serve as Authorized Participants of the Fund. Additional Authorized Participants may be added at any time, subject to the discretion of the Sponsor.
In connection with the paragraph above, when the Fund purchases ether, the deposit of ether will initially be credited to the Fund’s Trading Balance with the Prime Broker before being swept to the Fund’s Vault Balance with the Ether Custodian pursuant to a regular end-of-day sweep process. Transfers of ether into the Fund’s Trading Balance are off-chain transactions and transfers from the Fund’s Trading Balance to the Fund’s Vault Balance are “on-chain” transactions represented on the Ethereum blockchain. Any costs related to transactions and transfers from the Fund’s Trading Balance to the Fund’s Vault Balance are borne by the Authorized Participant (and not the Fund or its Shareholders).
Because the Sponsor assumes what are expected to be most of the Fund’s expenses under the unitary fee arrangement, and the Sponsor’s fee accrues daily at the same rate, in the absence of any extraordinary expenses or liabilities, the amount of ether by which the Creation Ether Amount will decrease each day will be predictable.
The Sponsor causes the Administrator to make available on each Business Day an indicative Creation Unit Deposit Amount for the next Business Day.
Authorized Participants may use that indicative Creation Unit Deposit Amount as guidance regarding the amount of cash that they may expect to have to deposit with the Administrator in respect of purchase orders placed by them on such next Business Day and accepted by the Sponsor. The agreement entered into with each Authorized Participant provides, however, that once a purchase order has been accepted by the Sponsor, the Authorized Participant are required to deposit with the Administrator the Creation Unit Deposit Amount as determined by the Sponsor on the effective date of the purchase order.
No Shares are issued unless and until the Prime Broker has informed the Sponsor that the corresponding amount of ether has been received in the Fund’s account. Disruption of services at the Prime Broker or Ether Custodian would have the potential to delay settlement of the ether related to Share creations.
Ether transactions that occur on the blockchain are susceptible to delays due to Ethereum network outage, congestion, spikes in transaction fees demanded by validators, or other problems or disruptions. To the extent that ether transfers from the Fund’s Trading Balance to the Fund’s Vault Balance are delayed due to congestion or other issues with the Ethereum network, such ether will not be held in cold storage in the Vault Balance until such transfers can occur.
The Fund may, and upon the direction of the Sponsor shall, suspend the acceptance of purchase orders or the delivery or registration of transfers of Shares, or may, and upon the direction of the Sponsor shall, refuse a particular purchase order, delivery or registration of Shares (i) during any period when the transfer books of the Transfer Agent are closed or (ii) at any time, if the Sponsor thinks it advisable for any reason.
Ether held in the Fund’s Ether Custodian account is the property of the Fund and is not traded, leased, or loaned under any circumstances.
Rejection of Purchase Orders
The Sponsor or its designee has the absolute right, but does not have any obligation, to reject any purchase order if the Sponsor determines that:
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the purchase order is not in proper form;
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it would not be in the best interest of the Shareholders of the Fund;
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the acceptance of the purchase order would have adverse tax consequences to the Fund or its Shareholders;
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the acceptance or receipt of the purchase order would, in the opinion of counsel to the Sponsor, be unlawful; or
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circumstances outside the control of the Fund, the Sponsor, the Marketing Agent or the Ether Custodian or Cash Custodian make it, for all practical purposes, not feasible to process the order (including if the Sponsor determines that the investments available to the Fund at that time will not enable it to meet its investment objective).
None of the Sponsor, the Transfer Agent, the Ether Custodian or the Cash Custodian are liable for the rejection of any purchase order. The Fund may reject any purchase order that is not in proper form.
Redemption Procedures
The Fund redeems Creation Units solely in exchange for cash proceeds from selling the amount of ether represented by the aggregate number of Shares redeemed. On any Business Day, an Authorized Participant may place an order with the Transfer Agent to redeem one or more Creation Units. Redemption orders must be placed by 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, or the close of regular trading on the Exchange, whichever is earlier. The day on which an order is received properly by the Transfer Agent is considered the redemption order date.
A redemption transaction fee is imposed to offset transfer and other transaction costs incurred by the Fund. The Authorized Participant pays to the Administrator (1) a transaction fee on each redemption order and (2) the transfer, processing and other transaction costs charged by the Ether Custodian in connection with the redemption of Creation Units for such redemption order (including Ethereum network fees) (“Custody Transaction Costs”). The Administrator will reimburse any Custody Transaction Costs to the Ether Custodian according to the amounts invoiced by the Ether Custodian. Any Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees incurred in connection with the redemption of Creation Units are borne by the Authorized Participant.
On the date of the redemption order, the Fund may choose, in its sole discretion, to enter into a transaction with an Ether Trading Counterparty or the Prime Broker, to sell ether in exchange for cash. Also, on the date of the redemption order, the Fund instructs the Ether Custodian to prepare to move the associated ether from the Fund’s Vault Balance with the Ether Custodian to the Fund’s Trading Balance with the Prime Broker. For settlement of a redemption (which is generally expected to be the trade date plus one (T+1) Business Day), the Authorized Participant delivers the necessary Shares to the Fund, an Ether Trading Counterparty or the Prime Broker, as applicable, delivers the cash to the Fund associated with the Fund’s sale of ether, ether is delivered to the Ether Trading Counterparty’s account at the Prime Broker or directly to the Prime Broker, as applicable, and the Fund delivers cash to the Authorized Participant. In the event the Fund has not been able to successfully execute and complete settlement of an ether transaction by the settlement date of the redemption order, settlement may be delayed. With respect to a redemption order, between the Fund and the Authorized Participant, the Authorized Participant is responsible for the dollar cost of the difference between the ether price utilized in calculating the NAV on the trade date and the price realized in selling the ether to raise the cash needed for the cash redemption order to the extent the price realized in selling the ether is lower than the ether price utilized in the NAV. To the extent the price realized from selling the ether is higher than the price utilized in the NAV, the Authorized Participant shall get to keep the dollar impact of any such difference.
The transfers of ether from the Fund’s Trading Balance to the Ether Trading Counterparty’s account at the Prime Broker or to the Prime Broker is an “off-chain” transaction that is recorded in the books and records of the Prime Broker.
The Fund’s Trading Balance with the Prime Broker may not be funded with ether on the trade date for the sale of ether in connection with the redemption order, when ether remains in the Fund’s Vault Balance with the Ether Custodian at the point of intended execution of a sale of ether. In those circumstances the Fund may borrow Trade Credits in the form of ether from the Trade Credit Lender, which allows the Fund to sell ether through the Prime Broker on the trade date, and the cash proceeds are deposited in the Fund’s Trading Balance with the Prime Broker. For settlement of a redemption where Trade Credits were utilized, the Fund delivers cash to the Authorized Participant in exchange for Shares received from the Authorized Participant. In the event Trade Credits were used, the Fund will use the ether moved from the Fund’s Vault Balance with the Ether Custodian to the Trading Balance with the Prime Broker to repay the Trade Credits borrowed from the Trade Credit Lender. Any trade financing fees incurred in connection with the redemption of Creation Units are borne by the Authorized Participant.
Transfers of ether from the Fund’s Vault Balance to the Fund’s Trading Balance are “on-chain” transactions represented on the Ethereum blockchain.
Ether transactions that occur on the blockchain are susceptible to delays due to Ethereum network outages, congestion, spikes in transaction fees demanded by validators, or other problems or disruptions. To the extent that ether transfers from the Fund’s Vault Balance to the Fund’s Trading Balance are delayed due to congestion or other issues with the Ethereum network or the Fund’s operations, redemptions in the Fund could be delayed.
Disruption of services at the Prime Broker, Ether Custodian, Cash Custodian or the Authorized Participant’s banks would have the potential to delay settlement of the ether related to Share redemptions.
Upon the surrender of such Shares and the payment of the applicable transaction fee, Custody Transaction Costs and of any expenses, taxes or charges (such as stamp taxes or stock transfer taxes or fees) by the redeeming Authorized Participant, and the completion of the sale of ether for cash by the Fund, the Sponsor (or its designee) will instruct the delivery of cash to the Authorized Participant. As noted above, the Authorized Participant is responsible for the dollar cost of the difference between the value of ether calculated by the Administrator for the applicable NAV per Share of the Fund and the price at which the Fund sells ether to raise the cash needed for the cash redemption order to the extent the price realized in selling the ether is lower than the ether price utilized in the NAV. To the extent the price realized from selling the ether is higher than the price utilized in the NAV, the Authorized Participant shall get to keep the dollar impact of any such difference.
The redemption distribution due from the Fund are delivered once the Transfer Agent notifies the Sponsor or its delegate that the Authorized Participant has delivered the Shares represented by the Creation Units to be redeemed to the Fund’s DTC account. If the Fund’s DTC account has not been credited with all of the Shares of the Creation Units requested to be redeemed, the redemption distribution will be delayed until such time as the Transfer Agent confirms receipt of all such Shares. Once the Transfer Agent notifies the Sponsor or its delegate that the Shares have been received in the Fund’s DTC account, the Administrator instructs the Cash Custodian to transfer the cash amount from the Fund’s Cash Custodian account to the Authorized Participant. The redemption distribution due from the Fund will generally be delivered on the next business day following the redemption order date if the Fund’s DTC account has been credited with the Creation Units to be redeemed. Shares can only be surrendered for redemption in Creation Units of 50,000 Shares each.
The date the order is received determines the cash to be received in exchange. Orders received after the order cutoff time on a Business Day will not be accepted and should be resubmitted on the following Business Day.
All taxes incurred in connection with the delivery of cash to the Cash Custodian in exchange for Creation Units (including any applicable value added tax) are the sole responsibility of the Authorized Participant making such delivery.
Ether held in the Fund’s Ether Custodian account is the property of the Trust and is not traded, leased, or loaned under any circumstances. Except for transactions with the Trade Credit Lender, the Fund’s assets may not be loaned, pledged, hypothecated or re-hypothecated by any entity, including the Fund, Sponsor, Prime Broker or Ether Custodian.
Suspension of Creation or Redemption Orders
As described above, the Fund may, and upon the direction of the Sponsor shall, suspend the acceptance of purchase orders or the delivery or registration of transfers of Shares, or may, and upon the direction of the Sponsor shall, refuse a particular purchase order, delivery or registration of Shares (i) during any period when the transfer books of the Transfer Agent are closed or (ii) at any time, if the Sponsor thinks it advisable for any reason.
The Fund may, in its discretion, and will, when directed by the Sponsor, suspend the right of redemption, generally or with respect to a particular redemption order as follows: (1) during any period in which regular trading on the Cboe BZX Exchange is suspended or restricted, or the Exchange is closed (other than scheduled weekend or holiday closings), (2) during any period when the Sponsor determines that delivery, disposal or evaluation of ether is not reasonably practicable (for example, as a result of an interruption in services or availability of the Prime Broker, Ether Custodian, Cash Custodian, Administrator, or other service providers to the Fund, act of God, catastrophe, civil disturbance, government prohibition, war, terrorism, strike or other labor dispute, fire, force majeure, interruption in telecommunications, order entry systems, Internet services, or network provider services, unavailability of Fedwire, SWIFT or banks’ payment processes, significant technical failure, bug, error, disruption or fork of the Ethereum network, hacking, cybersecurity breach, or power, Internet, or Ethereum network outage, or similar event), or (3) during such other period as the Sponsor determines to be necessary for the protection of the Shareholders. None of the Fund, the Sponsor or the Administrator will not be liable to any person or liable in any way for any loss or damages that may result from any such rejection, suspension or postponement.
The Fund may reject any redemption order that is not in proper form.
If the Fund suspends creations or redemptions, Shareholders will be notified in a prospectus supplement, in the Fund’s periodic reports, and/or on the Fund’s website.
SERVICE PROVIDERS OF THE TRUST
The Sponsor of the Trust and the Fund is Franklin Holdings, LLC. The Sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company and was formed July 21, 2021. Franklin Resources, Inc., a corporation registered under Delaware law, is the ultimate parent company of the Sponsor.
The Sponsor is responsible for establishing the Fund and for the registration of the Shares. The Sponsor generally oversees the performance of the Fund’s principal service providers, but does not exercise day-to-day oversight over such service providers. The Sponsor, with assistance and support from the Administrator, is responsible for preparing and filing periodic reports on behalf of the Fund with the SEC and provides any required certification for such reports. The Sponsor designates the independent registered public accounting firm of the Fund and may from time to time employ legal counsel for the Fund. The Marketing Agent assists the Sponsor in marketing the Shares. The Marketing Agent is an affiliate of the Sponsor.
The Sponsor maintains a public website on behalf of the Fund, containing information about the Fund and the Shares, including the Fund's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act, which can be accessed free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. The Fund’s website is https://www.franklintempleton.com/investments/options/exchange-traded-funds/products/40521/SINGLCLASS/franklin-ethereum-etf/EZET. The information on the Fund’s website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, part of this report or incorporated into any other filings we make with the SEC. Additional information regarding the Trust may also be found on the SEC’s EDGAR database at www.sec.gov.
Liability of the Sponsor and Indemnification
The Sponsor is not liable to the Trust, Fund, or any future series of the Trust, the Trustee or any Shareholder for any action taken or for refraining from taking any action in good faith, or for errors in judgment or for depreciation or loss incurred by reason of the sale of any ether or other assets of the Fund or the Trust. However, the preceding liability exclusion does not protect the Sponsor against any liability resulting from its own gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct.
The Sponsor and each of its shareholders, members, directors, officers, employees, affiliates and subsidiaries are indemnified by the Trust and held harmless against any losses, liabilities or expenses incurred in the performance of its duties under the Declaration of Trust without gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct. The Sponsor may rely in good faith on any paper, order, notice, list, affidavit, receipt, evaluation, opinion, endorsement, assignment, draft or any other document of any kind prima facie properly executed and submitted to it by the Trustee, the Trustee’s counsel or by any other person for any matters arising under the Declaration of Trust. The Sponsor shall in no event be deemed to have assumed or incurred any liability, duty, or obligation to any Shareholder or to the Trustee other than as expressly provided for in the Declaration of Trust. Such indemnity includes payment from the Trust of the costs and expenses incurred in defending against any indemnified claim or liability under the Declaration of Trust.
THE TRUSTEE
CSC Delaware Trust Company, a subsidiary of the Corporation Service Company, serves as Trustee of the Trust. The Trustee’s principal offices are located at 251 Little Falls Drive, Wilmington, DE 19808. The structure of the Trust and the number and/or identity of the Trustee may be amended in the future via amendments to the Trust’s Certificate of Trust and the Declaration of Trust.
The Trustee has none of the duties or liabilities of the Sponsor. The duties of the Trustee shall be limited to (i) accepting legal process served on the Trust in the State of Delaware, (ii) the execution of any certificates required to be filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware which the Trustee is required to execute under Section 3811 of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act, and (iii) taking such action under the Declaration of Trust as it may be directed in writing by the Sponsor from time to time; provided, however, that the Trustee shall not be required to take any such action if it shall have determined, or shall have been advised by counsel, that such performance is likely to involve the Trustee in personal liability or is contrary to the terms of the Declaration of Trust or of any document contemplated hereby to which the Trust or the Trustee is a party or is otherwise contrary to law; and (iv) any other duties specifically allocated to the Trustee in the Declaration of Trust or agreed in writing with the Sponsor from time to time.
Liability of the trustee and Indemnification
The Trustee is not liable or accountable to the Trust or any other person or under any agreement to which the Trust or any series of the Trust is a party, except for a Trustee’s breach of its obligations pursuant to the Declaration of Trust or its own willful misconduct, bad faith or gross negligence. The Trustee and each of its officers, affiliates, directors, employees, and agents are indemnified by the Trust from and against any losses, claims, taxes, damages, reasonable expenses, and liabilities incurred with respect to the creation, operation or termination of the Trust, the execution, delivery or performance of the Declaration of Trust or the transactions contemplated thereby; provided that the indemnified party acted without willful misconduct, bad faith or gross negligence.
THE ADMINISTRATOR
The Sponsor entered into a Fund Administration and Accounting Agreement with BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, a division of The Bank of New York Mellon, to provide administration and accounting services to the Trust. Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and under the supervision and direction of the Sponsor and the Trust, BNY Mellon Asset Servicing keeps the operational records of the Trust and prepares and files certain regulatory filings on behalf of the Trust. BNY Mellon Asset Servicing may also perform other services for the Trust pursuant to the Agreement as mutually agreed upon by the Sponsor, the Trust and BNY Mellon Asset Servicing from time to time. The Administrator’s fees are paid on behalf of the Trust by the Sponsor.
THE TRANSFER AGENT
The Bank of New York Mellon serves as the Transfer Agent of the Trust pursuant to the terms and provisions of the Transfer Agency and Service Agreement (the “Transfer Agency and Service Agreement”). The Transfer Agent: (1) facilitates the issuance and redemption of Shares of the Trust; (2) responds to correspondence by Trust shareholders and others relating to its duties; (3) maintains shareholder accounts; and (4) makes periodic reports to the Trust.
The Ether Custodian for the Fund’s ether holdings is Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC, and the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has entered the Custodian Agreement with the Ether Custodian. The Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, add or terminate ether custodians at any time. The Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, change the custodian for the Fund’s ether holdings, but it will have no obligation whatsoever to do so or to seek any particular terms for the Fund from other such custodians.
The Ether Custodian keeps custody of all of the Fund’s ether in segregated accounts in the cold (i.e., non-networked) Vault Balance other than the Fund’s ether, which is temporarily maintained in the Trading Balance with the Prime Broker. Fund assets held in the Vault Balance are held in segregated wallets, and are not commingled with the Ether Custodian’s or its affiliates’ assets, or the assets of the Ether Custodian’s other customers. The Fund has not established a policy designating any specific parameters regarding amount of ether to be held in each cold storage wallet, and there is no limit on such amount. The Vault Balance is held at Ethereum blockchain addresses at which only the Fund’s assets are held. The percentage of the Fund’s ether that is held in the Cold Vault Balance will vary as dictated by business needs and there is no set percentage. The Ether Custodian keeps all of the private keys associated with the Fund’s ether in cold storage (i.e., on a non-networked computer or electronic or storage device).
Cold storage is a safeguarding method by which the private key(s) corresponding to ether is (are) generated and stored in an offline manner. Private keys are generated in offline computers or devices that are not connected to the internet so that they are more resistant to being hacked. By contrast, in hot storage, the private keys are held online, where they are more accessible, leading to more efficient transfers, though they are potentially more vulnerable to being hacked.
Cold storage of private keys involves keeping such keys on a non-networked computer or electronic device or storing the public key and private keys on a storage device or printed medium and deleting the keys from all computers. The Ether Custodian receives deposits of ether but does not send ether without use of the corresponding private keys. Such private keys are stored in cold storage facilities within the United States and Europe, exact locations of which are not disclosed for security reasons. A limited number of employees at the Ether Custodian are involved in private key management operations, and the Ether Custodian has represented that no single individual has access to full private keys.
The Trust retains audit rights with respect to the verification of the Fund’s ether. Specifically, all copies of records of Coinbase Custody are at all times during its regular business hours open for inspection and use by duly authorized officers, employees or agents of the Trust. In addition, the Ether Custodian provides twice per calendar year the Trust with a copy of its Service Organizational Control (SOC) 1 and 2 reports prepared in accordance with the requirements of AT section 801, Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization or other information necessary to verify that satisfactory internal control systems and procedures are in place. The Ether Custodian’s internal audit team performs periodic internal audits over custody operations, and the Ether Custodian has represented that SOC attestations covering private key management controls are also performed on the Ether Custodian by an external provider.
Coinbase Global, Inc. (“Coinbase Global”) maintains a commercial crime insurance policy which is intended to cover the loss of client assets held by Coinbase Insureds, including from employee collusion or fraud, physical loss including theft, damage of key material, security breach or hack, and fraudulent transfer. The insurance maintained by Coinbase Global is shared among all of the Coinbase Insured’s customers, is not specific to the Fund or to customers holding ether with the Ether Custodian or Prime Broker and may not be available or sufficient to protect the Fund from all possible losses or sources of losses.
In the event of a fork, the Coinbase Entities may temporarily suspend Prime Broker Services (with or without notice to the Fund). The Coinbase Entities may, in their sole discretion, determine whether or not to support (or cease supporting) either branch of the forked protocol entirely. The Coinbase Entities are required to use commercially reasonable efforts to timely select at least one of the forked protocol branches to support and will identify such selection in a notice reasonably in advance of such fork (to the extent practicable) to provide a Fund the opportunity to arrange for the transfer of the relevant digital assets, which the Coinbase Entities shall use commercially reasonable efforts to accomplish in advance of such fork. Neither the Ether Custodian nor the Prime Broker will have any liability, obligation or responsibility whatsoever arising out of or relating to the operation of an unsupported branch of the Ethereum blockchain in the event of a fork. Neither the Ether Custodian nor the Prime Broker support airdrops, metacoins, colored coins, side chains, or other derivative, enhanced or forked protocols, tokens or coins, which supplement or interact with ether. The Fund holds only ether and cash and may not hold any non-ether crypto asset. The Trust issued a standing instruction regarding airdrops and forks to the Ether Custodian consistent with the foregoing policy.
Under the Custodian Agreement, the Ether Custodian’s liability is limited to the greater of (i) the aggregate amount of fees paid by the Fund to the Ether Custodian in respect of the custodial services in the 12-month period prior to the event giving rise to such liability or (ii) the value of the supported digital assets on deposit in the Fund’s custodial account(s) giving rise to such liability at the time of the event giving rise to such liability; provided, that in no event shall Ether Custodian aggregate liability in respect of each cold storage address exceed $100,000,000. In addition, Coinbase’s defense and indemnity obligations under the Prime Broker Agreement (the Custodian Agreement is part of the Prime Broker Agreement) are limited, in the aggregate, to an amount equal to $2,000,000. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is no liability limit for losses arising from the Ether Custodian’s fraud or willful misconduct. The Ether Custodian is not liable for delays, suspension of operations, failure in performance, or interruption of service, which result directly or indirectly from a cause or condition beyond the reasonable control of the Ether Custodian. Under the Custodian Agreement, except in the case of its negligence, fraud or willful misconduct, the Ether Custodian shall not have any liability, obligation, or responsibility for any damage or interruptions caused by any computer viruses, spyware, scareware, Trojan horses, worms or other malware that may affect the Fund’s computer or other equipment, or any phishing, spoofing or other attack.
The Ether Custodian Agreement forms a part of the Prime Broker Agreement, and is subject to the termination provisions in the Prime Broker Agreement. If the Ether Custodian closes the Fund’s custodial account or terminates the Fund’s use of the custodial services, the Fund is permitted to withdraw ether associated with the Fund’s custodial account for a period of up to ninety days following the date of deactivation or cancellation to the extent not prohibited (i) under applicable law, including applicable sanctions programs, or (ii) by a facially valid subpoena, court order, or binding order of a government authority. The Ether Custodian may not, directly or indirectly, lend, pledge, hypothecate or re-hypothecate any Fund assets in the Vault Balance and no Coinbase Entity may sell, transfer, loan, rehypothecate or otherwise alienate the Fund’s assets credited to Fund’s Trading Balance unless instructed by Client. The Vault Balance and Trading Balance are subject to the lien to secure outstanding Trade Credits in favor of the Trade Credit Lender discussed below.
THE PRIME BROKER
Pursuant to the Prime Broker Agreement, a portion of the Fund’s ether holdings and cash holdings from time to time may be temporarily held with the Prime Broker, an affiliate of the Ether Custodian, in the Trading Balance, for certain limited purposes, in connection with creations and redemptions of Creation Units and the sale of ether to pay the Sponsor’s fee and Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor. The Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, add or terminate prime brokers at any time. The Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, change the prime broker for the Fund, but it will have no obligation whatsoever to do so or to seek any particular terms for the Fund from other such prime brokers.
Within the Fund’s Trading Balance, the Prime Broker Agreement provides that the Fund does not have an identifiable claim to any particular ether (and cash). Instead, the Fund’s Trading Balance represents an entitlement to a pro rata share of the ether (and cash) the Prime Broker holds on behalf of customers who hold similar entitlements against the Prime Broker. In this way, the Fund’s Trading Balance represents an omnibus claim on the Prime Broker’s ether (and cash) held on behalf of the Prime Broker’s customers. The Prime Broker holds the ether associated with customer entitlements across a combination of omnibus cold wallets, omnibus “hot wallets” (meaning wallets whose private keys are generated and stored online, in Internet-connected computers or devices) or in omnibus accounts in the Prime Broker’s name on a trading venue (including third-party venues and the Prime Broker’s own execution venue) where the Prime Broker executes orders to buy and sell ether on behalf of its clients. There are no policies that would limit the amount of ether that can be held temporarily in the Trading Balance maintained by the Prime Broker. However, ether is only moved into the Trading Balance in connection with and to the extent of purchases and sales of ether by the Fund and such ether is swept from the Fund’s Trading Balance to the Fund’s Vault Balance each trading day pursuant to a regular end-of-day sweep process. The Fund’s use of Trade Credits and early order cutoffs are also designed to limit the amount of time that any of the Fund’s ether is held in the Fund’s Trading Balance.
Within such omnibus hot and cold wallets and accounts, the Prime Broker has represented to the Sponsor that it keeps the majority of assets in cold wallets, to promote security, while the balance of assets is kept in hot wallets to facilitate rapid withdrawals. However, the Sponsor has no control over, and for security reasons the Prime Broker does not disclose to the Sponsor, the percentage of ether that the Prime Broker holds for customers holding similar entitlements as the Fund which are kept in omnibus cold wallets, as compared to omnibus hot wallets or omnibus accounts in the Prime Broker’s name on a trading venue. The Prime Broker has represented to the Sponsor that the percentage of assets maintained in cold versus hot storage is determined by ongoing risk analysis and market dynamics, in which the Prime Broker attempts to balance anticipated liquidity needs for its customers as a class against the anticipated greater security of cold storage.
The Prime Broker is not required by the Prime Broker Agreement to hold any of the ether in the Fund’s Trading Balance in cold storage or to hold any such ether in segregation, and neither the Fund nor the Sponsor can control the method by which the Prime Broker holds the ether credited to the Fund’s Trading Balance.
The Prime Broker holds Fund cash credited to the Trading Balance in one of three ways: (i) in one or more omnibus accounts in Prime Broker’s name for the benefit of customers at one or more U.S. insured depository institutions (each, an “FBO account”); (ii) with respect to US dollars, liquid investments, which may include but are not limited to U.S. treasuries and Money Market Funds, in accordance with state money transmitter laws and (iii) in Prime Broker’s omnibus accounts at Connected Trading Venues. The Prime Broker will title the FBO accounts it maintains with U.S. depository institutions and maintain records of Fund’s interest in a manner designed to enable receipt of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) deposit insurance, where applicable and up to the deposit insurance limits applicable under FDIC regulations and guidance, on Fund cash for the Fund’s benefit on a pass through basis. The Prime Broker does not guarantee that pass-through FDIC deposit insurance will apply to Fund cash, since such insurance is dependent in part on compliance of the depository institutions. The Prime Broker may also title its accounts at some or all Connected Trading Venues and maintain records of Fund interests in those accounts in a manner consistent with FDIC requirements for pass through deposit insurance, but availability of pass-through deposit insurance, up to the deposit insurance limits applicable under FDIC regulations and guidance, is also dependent on the actions of the Connected Trading Venues and any depository institutions they use, which may not be structured to provide pass-through deposit insurance. FDIC insurance applies to cash deposits at banks and other insured depository institutions in the event of a failure of that institution, and does not apply to the Prime Broker or to any digital asset held by a Prime Broker on Fund’s behalf.
To the extent the Fund sells ether through the Prime Broker, the Fund’s orders will be executed at Connected Trading Venues that have been approved in accordance with the Prime Broker’s due diligence and risk assessment process. The Prime Broker has represented that its due diligence on Connected Trading Venues includes reviews conducted by the legal, compliance, security, finance and credit-risk teams. The Connected Trading Venues, which are subject to change from time to time, as of March 31, 2026 included Bitstamp, LMAX, Kraken, the exchange operated by the Prime Broker, as well as four non-bank market makers (“NBMMs”).
The Cash Custodian is The Bank of New York Mellon. The Cash Custodian’s services are governed under the Custody Agreement between The Bank of New York Mellon and the Trust. In performing its duties under the Custody Agreement, BNY Mellon is required to exercise the standard of care and diligence that a professional custodian for exchange-traded funds would observe in these affairs considering the prevailing rules, practices, procedures and circumstances in the relevant market and to perform its duties without negligence, fraud, bad faith, willful misconduct or reckless disregard of its duties under the Custody Agreement. Under the Custody Agreement, BNY Mellon is not liable for any losses, damages, costs, charges, expenses, or liabilities (including reasonable counsel fees and expenses) (collectively, “Losses”) except to the extent caused by BNY Mellon’s own bad faith, negligence, willful misconduct or reckless disregard of its duties under the Custody Agreement. The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, will indemnify and hold harmless BNY Mellon from and against all Losses, incurred by BNY Mellon arising out of or relating to BNY Mellon’s performance under the Custody Agreement, except to the extent resulting from BNY Mellon’s failure to perform its obligations under the Custody Agreement in accordance with the agreement’s standard of care. The Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, add or terminate cash custodians at any time.
THE MARKETING AGENT
Franklin Distributors, LLC is the Marketing Agent of the Fund. The Marketing Agent is an affiliate of the Sponsor and has its principal address at One Franklin Parkway, San Mateo, CA 94403-1906.
The Marketing Agent and its affiliates may from time to time purchase or sell Shares for their own account, as agent for their customers and for accounts over which they exercise investment discretion.
The Marketing Agent is responsible for marketing the Fund and the Shares on a continuous basis. Among other things, the Marketing Agent assists the Sponsor in: (1) developing a marketing plan for the Fund on an ongoing basis; (2) preparing marketing materials regarding the Shares, including the content on the Fund’s website;
(3) executing the marketing plan for the Fund; (4) conducting public relations activities related to the marketing of Shares; and (5) incorporating ether into its strategic and tactical exchange-traded fund research.
Creation Units are created or redeemed only by Authorized Participants. Each Authorized Participant must be a registered broker-dealer, a participant in DTC, and have entered into an agreement with the Sponsor and Administrator (the “Authorized Participant Agreement”). The Authorized Participant Agreement provides the procedures for the creation and redemption of Creation Units and for the delivery of cash in connection with such creations or redemptions. As of March 31, 2026, Jane Street Capital, LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Virtu Americas LLC, Citadel Securities LLC, and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC have each executed an Authorized Participant Agreement and serve as Authorized Participants of the Fund. Additional Authorized Participants may be added at any time, subject to the discretion of the Sponsor. See “Creations and Redemptions” for more details.
TAXATION OF THE TRUST
The Sponsor will treat the Fund as a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Assuming that the Trust is a grantor trust, the Trust will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax. Rather, if the Trust is a grantor trust, each beneficial owner of Shares is treated as directly owning its pro rata share of the Trust’s assets and a pro rata portion of the Trust’s income, gains, losses and deductions will “flow through” to each beneficial owner of Shares.
Risk Factors Related to Digital Assets
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The trading prices of many digital assets, including ether, have experienced extreme volatility in recent periods and may continue to do so. Extreme volatility in the future, including further declines in the trading prices of ether, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Shares and the Shares could lose all or substantially all of their value.
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The value of the Shares is subject to a number of factors relating to the fundamental investment characteristics of ether as a digital asset, including the fact that digital assets are bearer instruments and loss, theft, destruction, or compromise of the associated private keys could result in permanent loss of the asset, and the capabilities and development of blockchain technologies such as the Ethereum blockchain.
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Digital assets represent a new and rapidly evolving industry, and the value of the Shares depends on the acceptance of ether.
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Smart contracts, including those relating to decentralized finance (“DeFi”) applications, are a new technology and their ongoing development and operation may result in problems, which could reduce the demand for ether or cause a wider loss of confidence in the Ethereum network, either of which could have an adverse impact on the value of ether.
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Changes in the governance of a digital asset network may not receive sufficient support from users and validators, which may negatively affect that digital asset network’s ability to grow and respond to challenges.
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A temporary or permanent “fork” could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
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Competition from the emergence or growth of alternative digital assets, such as Bitcoin, Solana, Avalanche, Cardano, and numerous others and smart contracts platforms could have a negative impact on the demand for, and price of, ether and thereby adversely affect the value of the Shares.
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The value of the Shares relates directly to the value of ether, the value of which may be highly volatile and subject to fluctuations due to a number of factors.
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The Fund’s fee structure, liquidity, or trading volume and spreads relative to other competitor ether products could have a detrimental effect on the scale and sustainability of the Fund.
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The Index (as defined below) has a limited performance history, and could experience calculation or other errors, in which case the Index price could fail to track the global ether price, and a failure of the Index price could adversely affect the value of the Shares, and the Index’s methodology may be subject to change.
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The Index price used to calculate the value of the Fund’s ether may be volatile, adversely affecting the value of the Shares.
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Unlike some digital assets, which have a limit on outstanding supply, there is no limit on ether supply.
Risk Factors Related to the Fund and the Shares
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If the process of creation and redemption of Creation Units encounters any unanticipated difficulties, the possibility for arbitrage transactions by Authorized Participants intended to keep the price of the Shares closely linked to the price of ether may not exist and, as a result, the price of the Shares may fall or otherwise diverge from NAV.
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The liquidity of the Shares may also be affected by the withdrawal from participation of Authorized Participants or Ether Trading Counterparties.
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The Fund will rely on the information and technology systems of the Service Providers (as defined below), each of which could be directly or indirectly adversely affected by information systems interruptions, cybersecurity incidents or other disruptions, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on the Fund.
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Ether transactions are irrevocable and stolen or incorrectly transferred ether may be irretrievable. As a result, any incorrectly executed ether transactions could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
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If the Custodian Agreement, Prime Broker Agreement, an Authorized Participant Agreement or Ether Trading Counterparty Agreement (as defined below) is terminated or the Ether Custodian, Prime Broker, an Authorized Participant or an Ether Trading Counterparty fails to provide services as required, the Sponsor may need to find and appoint a replacement custodian, prime broker, authorized participant or ether trading counterparty, which could pose a challenge to the safekeeping of the Fund’s ether, and the Fund’s ability to create and redeem Shares and continue to operate may be adversely affected.
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Loss of a critical banking relationship for, or the failure of a bank used by, the Prime Broker could adversely impact the Fund’s ability to create or redeem Creation Units, or could cause losses to the Fund.
Risk Factors Related to the Regulation of the Fund and the Shares
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Digital asset markets in the U.S. exist in a state of regulatory uncertainty, and adverse legislative or regulatory developments could significantly harm the value of ether or the Shares, such as by banning, restricting or imposing onerous conditions or prohibitions on the use of ether, validation activity, digital wallets, the provision of services related to trading and custodying ether, the operation of the Ethereum network, or the digital asset markets generally.
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If regulators or public utilities take actions that restrict or otherwise impact validation activities, there may be a significant decline in such activities, which could adversely affect the Ethereum network and the value of the Shares.
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If regulators subject the Fund, or the Sponsor, to regulation as a money services business (“MSB”) or money transmitter, this could result in extraordinary expenses to the Fund or the Sponsor and also result in decreased liquidity for the Shares.
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Regulatory changes or interpretations could obligate an Authorized Participant, the Fund, the Trust, the Sponsor or other Fund service providers to register and comply with new regulations, resulting in potentially extraordinary or nonrecurring expenses to the Fund.
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The treatment of digital assets for U.S. federal, state and local income tax purposes is uncertain.
The following risks, some of which have occurred and any of which may occur in the future, can have a material adverse effect on our business or financial performance, which in turn can affect the price of the Shares. These are not the only risks we face. There may be other risks we are not currently aware of or that we currently deem not to be material but may become material in the future.
The trading prices of many digital assets, including ether, have experienced extreme volatility in recent periods and may continue to do so. Extreme volatility in the future, including further declines in the trading prices of ether, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Shares and the Shares could lose all or substantially all of their value.
The trading prices of many digital assets, including ether, have experienced extreme volatility in recent periods and may continue to do so. For instance, there were steep increases in the value of certain digital assets, including ether, over the course of 2021, and multiple market observers asserted that digital assets were experiencing a “bubble.” These increases were followed by steep drawdowns throughout 2022 in digital asset trading prices, including for ether. These episodes of rapid price appreciation followed by steep drawdowns have occurred multiple times throughout ether’s history, including in 2021-2025. As of the date of this report, digital asset prices have continued to fluctuate. For example, ether lost approximately 12.2% of its value according to some sources in mid- October 2025 as part of wider digital asset market turmoil, precipitated by global trade tensions and structural leverage, which triggered a number of dislocations in the digital asset market (the “October 2025 Flash Crash”), including liquidations of up to $20 billion in collateral in the form of various digital assets (including, but not limited to, ether) securing trades (particularly perpetual futures contracts and various forms of financing transactions), along with reported service interruptions, halted orders, forced unwinding of trades, and other issues, across centralized and decentralized exchanges.
Furthermore, changes in U.S. political leadership and economic policies may create uncertainty that materially affects the price of ether and the Fund's Shares. For example, on March 6, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a United States Digital Asset Stockpile. Pursuant to this Executive Order, the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was directed to be capitalized with Bitcoin owned by the Department of Treasury that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings, and the Secretaries of Treasury and Commerce are authorized to develop budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional bitcoin, provided that those strategies impose no incremental costs on American taxpayers. The anticipation of a U.S. government-funded strategic cryptocurrency reserve had motivated large-scale purchases of certain digital assets in the expectation of the U.S. government acquiring digital assets, to fund such reserve, and the market price of such digital assets decreased significantly as a result of the ultimate content of the Executive Order. Any similar action or omission by the U.S. federal administration or other government authorities with respect to bitcoin or other digital assets may negatively and significantly impact the price of ether and the Fund's Shares. The ultimate impact of these recent regulatory developments on the Fund's business is uncertain and it is not possible to predict at this time what risks, if any, that regulatory developments may pose to the Fund, its service providers or to the digital asset industry as a whole.
Extreme volatility may persist and the value of the Shares may significantly decline in the future without recovery. The digital asset markets may experience a bubble or significant correction in the future. Digital assets including ether remain susceptible to cyber security events, fraud, manipulation or similar disruptions. For example, in the first half of 2022, each of Celsius Network, Voyager Digital Ltd., and Three Arrows Capital declared bankruptcy, resulting in a loss of confidence in participants of the digital asset ecosystem and negative publicity surrounding digital assets more broadly. In November 2022, FTX Trading Ltd. (‟FTX”), one of the largest digital asset platforms by volume at the time, halted customer withdrawals amid rumors of the company’s liquidity issues and likely insolvency, which were subsequently corroborated by its CEO. Shortly thereafter, FTX’s CEO resigned and FTX and many of its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in the United States, while other affiliates have entered insolvency, liquidation, or similar proceedings around the globe, following which the U.S. Department of Justice brought criminal fraud and other charges, and the SEC and CFTC brought civil securities and commodities fraud charges, against certain of FTX’s and its affiliates’ senior executives, including its former CEO. In addition, several other entities in the digital asset industry filed for bankruptcy following FTX’s bankruptcy filing, such as BlockFi Inc. and Genesis Global Capital, LLC (“Genesis”). In April 2025, the DOJ issued a policy memo ending "regulation by prosecution" for crypto actors, refocusing on fraud, illicit finance, and aligning enforcement with executive directives. Acting CFTC Chairman directed staff to follow the DOJ's new policy, pausing certain prosecutions. In July 2025, BlockFi reached a $35 million settlement with the DOJ, clearing legal hurdles for creditor distributions. In response to these events (collectively, the ‟2022 Events”), the digital asset markets have experienced extreme price volatility and other entities in the digital asset industry have been, and may continue to be, negatively affected, further undermining confidence in the digital asset markets. These events have also negatively impacted the liquidity of the digital asset markets as certain entities affiliated with FTX engaged in significant trading activity. If the liquidity of the digital asset markets continues to be negatively impacted by similar events, digital asset prices, including ether, may continue to experience significant volatility or price declines and confidence in the digital asset markets may be further undermined. In addition, regulatory and enforcement scrutiny increased in response to these events, and could further increase in response to similar events in the future, including from federal as well as state regulators and authorities.
Extreme volatility in the future, including further declines in the trading prices of ether, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Shares and the Shares could lose all or substantially all of their value. The Fund is not actively managed and will not take any actions to take advantage, or mitigate the impacts, of volatility in the price of ether. Additionally, advancements in capabilities of quantum computing and similar technologies may pose challenges to the security of digital asset networks, including the Ethereum network. There can be no assurance that these risks will be sufficiently mitigated with protective measures. Vulnerabilities in cryptography supporting digital asset transactions, including with respect to ether, could adversely impact confidence across digital markets generally, and cause volatility or substantial declines in the price of ether and the Shares.
The value of the Shares is subject to a number of factors relating to the fundamental investment characteristics of ether as a digital asset, including the fact that digital assets are bearer instruments and loss, theft, destruction, or compromise of the associated private keys could result in permanent loss of the asset, and the capabilities and development of blockchain technologies such as the Ethereum blockchain.
Digital assets such as ether were only introduced within the past decade, and the medium-to-long term value of the Shares is subject to a number of factors relating to the capabilities and development of blockchain technologies over time, such as the recentness of their development, their dependence on the internet and other technologies, their dependence on the role played by users, developers and validators and the potential for malicious activity. For example, the realization of one or more of the following risks could materially adversely affect the value of the Shares:
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Digital asset networks, including the Ethereum peer-to-peer network and associated blockchain ledger (such blockchain, the “Ethereum blockchain” and together with the peer-to-peer network, the “Ethereum network” or “Layer 1 Ethereum network”), and the software used to operate them are in the early stages of development. Given the recentness of the development of digital asset networks, digital assets may not function as intended and parties may be unwilling to use digital assets, which would dampen the growth, if any, of digital asset networks. Because ether is a digital asset, the value of the Shares is subject to a number of factors relating to the fundamental investment characteristics of digital assets, including the fact that digital assets are bearer instruments and loss, theft, compromise, or destruction of the associated private keys could result in permanent loss of the asset.
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Digital assets, including ether, are controllable only by the possessor of both the unique public key and private key or keys relating to the Ethereum network address, or “wallet,” at which the digital asset is held. Private keys must be safeguarded and kept private in order to prevent a third party from accessing the digital asset held in such wallet. The loss, theft, compromise or destruction of a private key required to access a digital asset may be irreversible. If a private key is lost, stolen, destroyed or otherwise compromised and no backup of the private key is accessible, the owner would be unable to access the digital asset corresponding to that private key and the private key will not be capable of being restored by the digital asset network resulting in the total loss of the value of the digital asset linked to the private key.
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Digital asset networks are dependent upon the internet. A disruption of the internet or a digital asset network, such as the Ethereum network, would affect the ability to transfer digital assets, including ether, and, consequently, their value.
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The acceptance of software patches or upgrades by some, but not all, nodes, users and validators in a digital asset network, such as the Ethereum network, could result in a “fork” in such network’s blockchain, including the Ethereum blockchain, resulting in the operation of multiple separate networks.
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Governance of the Ethereum network is by voluntary consensus and open competition. As a result, there may be a lack of consensus or clarity on the governance of the Ethereum network, which may stymie the Ethereum network’s utility and ability to grow and face challenges. In particular, it may be difficult to find solutions or marshal sufficient effort to overcome any future problems on the Ethereum network, especially long-term problems.
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The foregoing notwithstanding, the Ethereum network’s protocol is informally overseen by a collective of core developers who, along with members of the Ethereum community, can introduce proposals, known as Ethereum Improvement Proposals (“EIPs”), for updating the Ethereum network. The core developers evolve over time, largely based on self-determined participation. An Ethereum client (“Ethereum Client”) is a software application that implements the Ethereum network specification and communicates with the Ethereum network. A “node” is a computer or other device that has downloaded the Ethereum Client and is connected to other computers also running the Ethereum Client software, together forming the Ethereum network. To the extent that node operators update their individual Ethereum Client to new specifications, the Ethereum network could be subject to changes that may adversely affect the value of ether. In addition, if a digital asset network has high-profile contributors, the perception that such contributors will no longer contribute to the network could have an adverse effect on the market price of the related digital asset.
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Over the past several years, digital asset validator operations have evolved from individual users to “professionalized” validating operations using proprietary hardware or sophisticated machines. If the profit margins of digital asset validating operations are not sufficiently high, including due to a decrease in transaction fees, validators are more likely to immediately sell tokens earned by validating, resulting in an increase in liquid supply of that digital asset, which would generally tend to reduce that digital asset’s market price.
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To the extent that any validators cease to record transactions that do not include the payment of a transaction fee in solved blocks or do not record a transaction because the transaction fee is too low, such transactions will not be recorded on the Ethereum blockchain until a block is validated by a validator who does not require the payment of transaction fees or is willing to accept a lower fee. Any widespread delays in the recording of transactions could result in a loss of confidence in a digital asset network.
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Many digital asset networks, including the Ethereum network, face significant scaling challenges and may periodically be upgraded with various features designed to increase the speed of digital asset transactions and the number of transactions that can processed in a given period (known as “throughput”). These attempts to increase the volume of transactions may not be effective or may result in unforeseen problems or issues, and such upgrades may fail, resulting in potentially irreparable damage to the Ethereum network and the value of ether.
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Moreover, in the past, bugs, defects, and flaws in the source code for digital assets have been exposed and exploited, including flaws that disrupted normal Ethereum network, Ethereum Client or DApp and smart contract operations or disabled related functionality for users, exposed users’ personal information and/or resulted in the theft of users’ digital assets. For example, in May 2023, the main Ethereum network itself reportedly suffered outages or bugs that for a short time prevented transactions from finalizing and being recorded in blocks twice in two days. Major Ethereum Clients that nodes use to access the Ethereum network, such as Geth, Besu and Nethermind, have in the past suffered outages or disruptions due to bugs. For more on an unplanned fork involving Geth clients, see “-A temporary or permanent “fork” could adversely affect the value of the Shares.” The cryptography underlying the Ethereum network or ether as an asset could prove to be flawed or ineffective, or developments in mathematics and/or technology, including advances in digital computing, algebraic geometry and quantum computing, could result in such cryptography becoming ineffective. Quantum computing technology is an emerging phenomenon which, because it is still developing, makes it difficult to predict its ultimate effect on the future value of ether and other digital assets. However, if quantum computing technology is able to advance and significantly increase its capacity relative to the capacity of today's leading quantum computers, it could potentially undermine the viability of many of the cryptographic algorithms used across the world's information technology infrastructure, including the cryptographic algorithms used for digital assets like ether. If quantum computing is able to advance in that way, there is a risk that quantum computing could result in the cryptography underlying the Ethereum network becoming ineffective, which, if realized, could compromise the security of the Ethereum network, or allow a malicious actor to compromise the wallets holding ether owned by the Fund or others on the Ethereum network, which would result in losses to Shareholders. While various actors in the Ethereum community are taking steps to enable the uses of cryptographic algorithms that would be resistant to advanced quantum computers, there is no guarantee that new quantum-proof architectures will be built and appropriate transitions will be implemented across the network at scale in a timely manner; any such changes could require the achievement of broad consensus within the Ethereum network community and a fork (or multiple forks) , and there can be no assurance that such consensus would be achieved or the changes implemented successfully. See “-Changes in the governance of a digital asset network may not receive sufficient support from users and validators, which may negatively affect that digital asset network’s ability to grow and respond to challenges” and “-A temporary or permanent “fork” could adversely affect the value of the Shares.” If any of the foregoing were to occur, it could result in losses to Shareholders. Moreover, normal operations and functionality of the Ethereum network may be negatively affected. Such losses of functionality could lead to the Ethereum network losing attractiveness to users, nodes, validators, or other stakeholders, thereby dampening demand for ether. Even if another digital asset other than ether were affected by similar circumstances, any reduction in confidence in the source code or cryptography underlying digital assets generally could negatively affect the demand for digital assets and therefore adversely affect the value of the Shares.
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The Ethereum network has been in the process of implementing a series of software upgrades and other changes to its protocol, which were previously referred to collectively as “Ethereum 2.0” and some of which were implemented during 2022, such as the Bellatrix and Paris planned forks (defined below) that transitioned the Ethereum network from a proof-of-work consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism (the “Merge”). These upgrades have resulted in, and are expected to continue to result in, changes to the Ethereum network. Many of the contemplated upgrades to the Ethereum network will include updates to material aspects of its source code. Although some of these upgrades have been successfully implemented, such as “the Merge,” which was completed in September 2022, there is no guarantee that there are not undiscovered flaws that will emerge in the future even in upgrades previously considered successful, and previously successful upgrades do not guarantee that future upgrades will be successful. Any such undiscovered flaws, or the failure to properly implement future changes, could have a material adverse effect on the value of ether and the value of the Shares. One completed upgrade is known as the “Shanghai” upgrade, which allows users to unstake their ether and remove it from the relevant smart contract. As a result of these or future upgrades, it is possible that significant volumes of currently locked and illiquid ether becomes unlocked and sold, which could increase volatility in ether prices or have a material adverse effect on the value of ether and the value of the Shares. Upgrades currently being considered to increase throughput and promote scaling, such as “sharding” the Layer 1 Ethereum network or greater reliance so-called “Layer 2” solutions, could have effects which are difficult to anticipate at this time, but could - if unsuccessfully implemented, or if they contain undiscovered flaws - materially adversely impact or even effectively eliminate the value of ether, and therefore impact the price of the Shares. In addition, the acceptance of software patches or upgrades by some, but not all, nodes, users and validators in a digital asset network could result in a “fork” in such network’s blockchain, resulting in the operation of multiple separate networks. See “-A temporary or permanent “fork” could adversely affect the value of the Shares” for additional information.
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The Ethereum network is still in the process of developing and making significant decisions that will affect policies that govern the supply and issuance of ether as well as other Ethereum network protocols. For example, the Ethereum network has on occasion reduced the quantity of ether rewarded per block and may make additional changes in the future, see “Overview of the Ethereum Industry-Creation of New Ether” for additional information. The open-source nature of many digital asset network protocols, such as the protocol for the Ethereum network, means that developers and other contributors are generally not directly compensated for their contributions in maintaining and developing such protocols. As a result, the developers and other contributors of a particular digital asset may lack a financial incentive to maintain or develop the network, or may lack the resources to adequately address emerging issues. Alternatively, some developers may be funded by companies whose interests are at odds with other participants in a particular digital asset network. If the Ethereum network does not successfully develop its policies on supply and issuance and other major design decisions, or does so in a manner that is not attractive to network participants, it could lead to a decline in adoption of the Ethereum network and price of ether.
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Decentralized application and smart contract developers depend on being able to obtain ether to be able to run their programs and operate their businesses. In particular, decentralized applications and smart contracts require ether in order to pay the gas fees needed to power such applications and smart contracts and execute transactions. As such, they represent a significant source of demand for ether. Ether’s price volatility (particularly where ether prices increase), or the Ethereum network’s wider inability to meet the demands of decentralized applications and smart contracts in terms of inexpensive, reliable, and prompt transaction execution (including during congested periods), or to solve its scaling challenges or increase its throughput, may discourage such decentralized application and smart contract developers from using the Ethereum network as the foundational infrastructure layer for building their applications and smart contracts. If decentralized application and smart contract developers abandon the Ethereum blockchain for other blockchain or digital asset networks or protocols for whatever reason, the value of ether could be negatively affected.
Moreover, because digital assets, including ether, have been in existence for a short period of time and are continuing to develop, there may be additional risks in the future that are impossible to predict as of the date of this report.
Digital assets represent a new and rapidly evolving industry, and the value of the Shares depends on the acceptance of ether.
The first digital asset, bitcoin, was launched in 2009. The Ethereum network launched in 2015 (though some ether was sold in a pre-mine in 2014). Ether, along with bitcoin, was one of the first cryptographic digital assets to gain global adoption and critical mass. In general, digital asset networks, including the Ethereum network and other cryptographic and algorithmic protocols governing the issuance of digital assets represent a new and rapidly evolving industry that is subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. For example, the realization of one or more of the following risks could materially adversely affect the value of the Shares:
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Ether is only selectively accepted as a means of payment by retail and commercial outlets, and use of ether by consumers to pay such retail and commercial outlets remains limited. Banks and other established financial institutions may refuse to process funds for ether transactions; process wire transfers to or from digital asset platforms, ether-related companies or service providers; or maintain accounts for persons or entities transacting in ether. As a result, the prices of ether may be influenced to a significant extent by speculators, thus contributing to price volatility that makes retailers less likely to accept ether in the future.
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Banks may not provide banking services, or may cut off banking services, to businesses that provide digital asset-related services or that accept digital assets as payment, which could dampen liquidity in the market and damage the public perception of digital assets generally or any one digital asset in particular, such as ether, and their or its utility as a payment system, which could decrease the price of digital assets generally or individually. Further, the lack of availability of banking services could prevent the Fund from being able to complete creations and redemptions of Creation Units, the timely liquidation of ether and withdrawal of assets from the Ether Custodian even if the Sponsor determined that such liquidation was appropriate or suitable, or otherwise disrupt the Fund’s operations.
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Certain privacy-preserving features have been or are expected to be introduced to digital asset networks, including the Ethereum network. For example, some prominent contributors to the Ethereum network have proposed the concept of “privacy pools,” zero-knowledge proofs, and other privacy-preserving features. If any such features are introduced to the Ethereum network, any platforms or businesses that facilitate transactions in ether may be at an increased risk of criminal or civil lawsuits, or of having banking services cut off if there is a concern that these features interfere with the performance of anti-money laundering duties and economic sanctions checks or facilitate illicit financing or crime.
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Users, protocol and application developers and validators may otherwise switch to or adopt certain digital assets at the expense of their engagement with other digital asset networks, which may negatively impact those networks, including the Ethereum network.
The Fund is not actively managed and does not pursue any formal strategy relating to the development of the Ethereum network.
Changes in the governance of a digital asset network may not receive sufficient support from users and validators, which may negatively affect that digital asset network’s ability to grow and respond to challenges.
The governance of decentralized networks, such as the Ethereum network, is by voluntary consensus and open competition. As a result, there may be a lack of consensus or clarity on the governance of any particular decentralized digital asset network, which may stymie such network’s utility and ability to grow and face challenges. The foregoing notwithstanding, the protocols for some decentralized networks, such as the Ethereum network, are informally managed by a group of core developers that propose amendments to the relevant network’s source code. Core developers’ roles evolve over time, largely based on self‑determined participation. If a significant majority of nodes, users and validators adopt amendments to a decentralized network based on the proposals of such core developers, such network will be subject to new protocols that may adversely affect the value of the relevant digital asset.
As a result of the foregoing, it may be difficult to find solutions or marshal sufficient effort to overcome any future problems, especially long-term problems, on digital asset networks.
Potential amendments to the Ethereum network’s protocols and software could, if accepted and authorized by the Ethereum network community, adversely affect the value of an investment in the Fund.
The Ethereum network uses cryptographic protocols to govern the interactions within the Ethereum network. A loose community known as the core developers has evolved to informally manage the source code for the protocol. Membership in the community of core developers evolves over time, largely based on self-determined participation in the resource section dedicated to Ethereum on Github.com. The core developers can propose amendments to the Ethereum network’s source code that, if accepted by nodes, validators and users, could alter the protocols and software of the Ethereum network and the properties of ether. These alterations would occur through software upgrades, and could potentially include changes to the irreversibility of transactions and limitations on the issuance of new ether or changes to the ether supply, which could undermine the appeal and market value of ether. Alternatively, software upgrades and other changes to the protocols of the Ethereum network could fail to work as intended or could introduce bugs, coding defects or flaws, security risks, or otherwise adversely affect, the speed, security, usability, or value of the Ethereum network or ether. As a result, the Ethereum network could be subject to changes to its protocols and software in the future that may adversely affect an investment in the Fund.
The open-source structure of the Ethereum network protocol means that the core developers and other contributors are generally not directly compensated for their contributions in maintaining and developing the Ethereum network protocol. A failure to properly monitor and upgrade the Ethereum network protocol could damage the Ethereum network and negatively affect the value of an investment in the Fund.
The Ethereum network operates based on an open-source protocol maintained by the core developers and other contributors, largely on the GitHub resource section dedicated to Ethereum network development. As new ether are rewarded solely for validator activity (other than the 2014 pre-mine) and are not sold on an ongoing basis to generate revenue to support development activity, and the Ethereum network protocol itself is made available for free rather than sold or made available subject to licensing or subscription fees and its use does not generate revenues for its development team, the core developers are generally not compensated for maintaining and updating the source code for the Ethereum network protocol. Consequently, there is a lack of financial incentive for developers to maintain or develop the Ethereum network and the core developers may lack the resources to adequately address emerging issues with the Ethereum network protocol. Although the Ethereum network is currently supported by the core developers, there can be no guarantee that such support will continue or be sufficient in the future. For example, there have been recent reports that the number of core developers who have the authority to make amendments to the Ethereum network’s source code in the GitHub repository is relatively small, although there are believed to be a larger number of developers who contribute to the overall development of the source code of the Ethereum network. The perception that high-profile contributors may no longer contribute to the network may have an adverse effect on the market price of any related digital assets. For example, in June 2017, an unfounded rumor circulated that Ethereum core developer Vitalik Buterin had died. Following the rumor, the price of ether decreased approximately 20% before recovering after Buterin himself dispelled the rumor. Some have speculated that the rumor led to the decrease in the price of ether. In the event a high-profile contributor to the Ethereum network, such as Vitalik Buterin, is perceived as no longer able to contribute to the Ethereum network due to death, retirement, withdrawal, incapacity, or otherwise, whether or not such perception is valid, it could negatively affect the price of ether, which could adversely impact the value of the Shares.
Alternatively, some developers may be funded by entities whose interests are at odds with other participants in the Ethereum network. In addition, a bad actor could also attempt to interfere with the operation of the Ethereum network by attempting to exercise a malign influence over a core developer. To the extent that material issues arise with the Ethereum network protocol and the core developers and open-source contributors are unable to address the issues adequately or in a timely manner, the Ethereum network and an investment in the Fund may be adversely affected.
Digital asset networks face significant scaling challenges and efforts to increase the volume and speed of transactions may not be successful.
Many digital asset networks, including the Ethereum network, face significant scaling challenges due to the fact that public blockchains generally face a tradeoff between security and scalability. One means through which public blockchains achieve security is decentralization, meaning that no intermediary is responsible for securing and maintaining these systems. For example, a greater degree of decentralization generally means a given digital asset network is less susceptible to manipulation or capture. In practice, this typically means that every single validator on a given digital asset network is responsible for securing the system by processing every transaction and every single full node is responsible for maintaining a copy of the entire state of the network. As a result, a digital asset network may be limited in the number of transactions it can process by the fact that all validators participate in validating in each block and the capabilities of each single fully participating node.
As of May 6, 2026, the Ethereum network processed an average of 28.14 transactions per second during the second quarter of 2026 (source: token terminal). In an effort to increase the volume of transactions that can be processed on a given digital asset network, many digital asset networks are being upgraded with various features to increase the speed and throughput of digital asset transactions. As corresponding increases in throughput lag behind growth in the use of digital asset networks, average fees and settlement times may increase considerably. For example, the Ethereum network has been, at times, at capacity, which has led to increased transaction fees. In December 2017, the popularity of the blockchain-based game Cryptokitties led to significant network congestion on the Ethereum network. The game, which allows players to trade and create virtual kitties, represented by non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”), was reported by some sources to have accounted for more than 10% of the entire Ethereum network traffic at the time causing increases in transaction fees and delays in transaction processing times, and driving Ethereum network traffic to a reported then-all time high. From April 30, 2023, ether transaction fees decreased from $9.52 per ether transaction, on average, to a high of $3.83 per transaction, on average, on April 30, 2024. As of May 6, 2026, ether transaction fees averaged $0.35 per transaction during the second quarter of 2026 (source: token terminal). Increased fees and decreased settlement speeds could preclude certain uses for ether (e.g., micropayments), and could reduce demand for, and the price of, ether, which could adversely impact the value of the Shares.
In the second half of 2020, the Ethereum network began the first of several stages of an upgrade culminating in the Merge. The Merge amended the Ethereum network’s consensus mechanism to a process known as proof-of-stake, and was intended to address the perceived shortcomings of the proof-of-work consensus mechanism in terms of labor intensity and duplicative computational effort expended by validators (known under proof-of-work as “miners”) who did not win the race, under proof of work, to be the first in time to solve the cryptographic puzzle that would allow them to be the only validator permitted to validate the block and receive the resulting block reward (which was only given to the first validator to successfully solve the puzzle and hash a given block, and not to others). Instead, under proof-of-stake, a single validator is randomly selected to solve the cryptographic puzzle needed to validate a block, which it proposes to a committee of other validators, who vote for whether to include the block (or not), which reduces the computational work performed - and energy expended - to validate each block compared to proof-of-work. See “Overview of the Ethereum Industry-Creation of New Ether” and “-Modifications to the Ethereum Protocol” for additional information.
Following the Merge, core development of the Ethereum source code has increasingly focused on modifications of the Ethereum protocol to increase speed, throughput and scalability and also improve existing or next generation uses. Future upgrades to the Ethereum protocol and Ethereum blockchain to address scaling issues - such as network congestion, slow throughput and periods of high transaction fees owing to spikes in network demand - have been discussed by network participants, such as sharding. The purpose of sharding is to increase scalability of the Layer 1 Ethereum network by splitting the blockchain into subsections, called shards, and dividing validation responsibility so that a defined subset of validators would be responsible for each shard, rather than all validators being responsible for the entire blockchain, allowing for parallel processing and validation of transactions. However, there appears to be uncertainty and a lack of existing widespread consensus among network participants about how to solve the scaling challenges faced by the Ethereum network.
The rapid development of other competing scalability solutions, such as those which would rely on handling the bulk of computational work relating to transactions or smart contracts and applications built on the Ethereum network (consistent with common usage, all such applications are referred to as “decentralized applications” or “DApps,” whether or not decentralized in fact) outside of the main Ethereum network and Ethereum blockchain, has caused alternatives to sharding to emerge. “Layer 2” is a collective term for solutions which are designed to help increase throughput and reduce transaction fees by handling or validating transactions off the main Ethereum network (known as “Layer 1”) and then attempting to take advantage of the perceived security and integrity advantages of the Layer 1 Ethereum network by uploading the transactions validated on the Layer 2 protocol back to the Layer 1 Ethereum network. The details of how this is done vary significantly between different Layer 2 technologies and implementations. For example, “rollups” perform transaction execution outside the Layer 1 Ethereum network and then post the data, typically in batches, back to the Layer 1 Ethereum network where consensus is reached. “Zero knowledge rollups” are generally designed to run the computation needed to validate the transactions off-chain, on the Layer 2 protocol, and submit a proof of validity of a batch of transactions (not the entire transactions themselves) that is recorded on the Layer 1 Ethereum network. By contrast, “optimistic rollups” assume transactions are valid by default and only run computation, via a fraud proof, in the event of a challenge. Other proposed Layer 2 scaling solutions include, among others, “state channels”, which are designed to allow participants to run a large number of transactions on the Layer 2 side channel protocol and only submit two transactions to the main Layer 1 Ethereum network (the transaction opening the state channel, and the transaction closing the channel), “side chains”, in which an entire Layer 2 blockchain network with similar capabilities to the existing Layer 1 Ethereum network runs in parallel with the existing Layer 1 Ethereum network and allows smart contracts and DApps to run on the Layer 2 side chain without burdening the main Layer 1 network, and others. To date, the Ethereum network community has not coalesced overwhelmingly around any particular Layer 2 solution, though this could change.
There is no guarantee that any of the mechanisms in place or being explored for increasing the speed and throughput of settlement of Ethereum network transactions will be effective, or how long these mechanisms will take to become effective, which could cause the Ethereum network to not adequately resolve scaling challenges and adversely impact the adoption of ether and the Ethereum network and the value of the Shares. There is no guarantee that any potential scaling solution, such as whether a change to the Layer 1 Ethereum network like sharding or the introduction of a Layer 2 solution like rollups, state channels or side chains, will achieve widespread adoption. Alternatively, in theory, the widespread adoption of Layer 2 solutions could succeed in reducing congestion on the Layer 1 Ethereum network by moving transactions and computational work to the Layer 2 level and thereby reduce direct transactions on the Layer 1 Ethereum network, but by reducing transactions on the Layer 1 Ethereum network, could reduce demand for ether on the Layer 1 Ethereum network, which could in theory negatively impact the price of ether. It is possible that proposed changes to the Layer 1 Ethereum network could divide the community, potentially even causing a hard fork, or that the decentralized governance of the Ethereum network causes network participants to fail to coalesce overwhelmingly around any particular solution, causing the Ethereum network to suffer reduced adoption or causing nodes, users or validators to migrate to other blockchain networks. It is also possible that scaling solutions could fail to work as intended or could introduce bugs, coding defects or flaws, security risks, or other problems that could cause them to suffer operational disruptions. For example, in April 2024, Starknet, a Layer 2 built on the Layer 1 Ethereum network, suffered an outage reportedly caused by a rounding error bug that halted production of new blocks on Starknet’s Layer 2 blockchain network. Similar outages, bugs, defects, or other problems could affect Layer 2s in the future. Similarly, in multiple instances throughout 2022 and 2023, the Arbitrum Layer 2 network experienced outages due to failures in its primary node responsible for submitting transactions to the Layer 1 Ethereum network. Although the Layer 1 Ethereum network is believed not to have been affected by those outages, problems on Layer 2s in the future could conceivably affect or cause issues for the Layer 1 Ethereum network. Alternatively, if a widely-used Layer 2 network were to fail, it could reduce demand for ether because it would eliminate a source of demand for using ether to record transactions from the Layer 2 onto the Layer 1 Ethereum network. Any of the foregoing could adversely affect the price of ether or the value of the Shares of the Fund.
Digital assets may have concentrated ownership and large sales or distributions by holders of such digital assets could have an adverse effect on the market price of such digital assets.
The largest ether wallets are believed to hold, in aggregate, a significant percentage of the ether in circulation. Moreover, it is possible that other persons or entities control multiple wallets that collectively hold a significant number of ether, even if they individually only hold a small amount, and it is possible that some of these wallets are controlled by the same person or entity. As a result of this concentration of ownership, large sales or distributions by such holders could have an adverse effect on the market price of ether.
If the digital asset award or transaction fees for recording transactions on the Ethereum network are not sufficiently high to incentivize validators, or if certain jurisdictions continue to limit or otherwise regulate validating activities, validators may cease expanding validating power or demand high transaction fees, which could negatively impact the value of ether and the value of the Shares.
In 2021, the Ethereum network implemented the EIP-1559 upgrade. EIP-1559 changed the methodology used to calculate transaction fees paid to ether validators in such a manner that reduced the total net issuance of ether fees paid to validators. If the digital asset awards for validating blocks or the transaction fees for recording transactions on the Ethereum network are not sufficiently high to incentivize validators, or if certain jurisdictions continue to limit or otherwise regulate validating activities, validators may cease expending validating power to validate blocks and confirmations of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain could be slowed. For example, the realization of one or more of the following risks could materially adversely affect the value of the Shares:
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A reduction in the processing power expended by validators on the Ethereum network could increase the likelihood of a malicious actor or botnet (a volunteer or hacked collection of computers controlled by networked software coordinating the actions of the computers) obtaining control. See “-If a malicious actor or botnet obtains control of more than 50% of the validating power on the Ethereum network, or otherwise obtains control over the Ethereum network through its influence over core developers or otherwise, such actor or botnet could manipulate the Ethereum blockchain to adversely affect the value of the Shares or the ability of the Fund to operate.”
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Validators have historically accepted relatively low transaction confirmation fees on most digital asset networks. If validators demand higher transaction fees for recording transactions in the Ethereum blockchain or a software upgrade automatically charges fees for all transactions on the Ethereum network, the cost of using ether may increase and the marketplace may be reluctant to accept ether as a means of payment. Alternatively, validators could collude in an anti-competitive manner to reject low transaction fees on the Ethereum network and force users to pay higher fees, thus reducing the attractiveness of the Ethereum network. Higher transaction confirmation fees resulting through collusion or otherwise may adversely affect the attractiveness of the Ethereum network, the value of ether and the value of the Shares.
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To the extent that any validators cease to record transactions that do not include the payment of a transaction fee in blocks or do not record a transaction because the transaction fee is too low, such transactions will not be recorded on the Ethereum blockchain until a block is validated by a validator who does not require the payment of transaction fees or is willing to accept a lower fee. Any widespread delays or disruptions in the recording of transactions could result in a loss of confidence in the Ethereum network and could prevent the Administrator from completing transactions associated with the day-to-day operations of the Fund, including creations and redemptions with Authorized Participants.
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During the course of the block validation processes, validators exercise the discretion to select which transactions to include within a block and in what order to include these transactions. Beyond the standard block reward and transaction fees, validators have the ability to extract what is known as Maximal Extractable Value (“MEV”) by strategically choosing, reordering, or excluding certain transactions during block production in return for increased transaction fees or other forms of profit for such validators. In blockchain networks that facilitate DeFi protocols in particular, such as the Ethereum network, users may attempt to gain an advantage over other users by offering additional fees to validators for effecting the order or inclusions of transactions within a block. Certain software solutions, such as MEV Boost by Flashbots, have been developed which facilitate validators and other parties in the ecosystem in capturing MEV. The presence of MEV may incentivize associated practices such as sandwich attacks or front running that can have negative repercussions on DeFi users. A “sandwich attack” is executed by placing two transactions around a large, detected transaction to capitalize on the expected price impact. For instance, a market participant might identify a sizable transaction within the publicly visible so-called memory pool (“mempool”) of pending but unexecuted transactions awaiting validation that will significantly alter an asset’s price on a decentralized exchange. The participant could then, for example, orchestrate a transaction bundle: one transaction to acquire the asset prior to the detected transaction, followed by the large transaction itself, and a final transaction to sell the asset after the market price has increased due to the large transaction’s execution. Such transaction bundles can be submitted to validators through mechanisms like MEV-Boost, with validators receiving a share of the profits as an incentive to include the specific transaction bundle in the block. In the context of MEV, “front running” is said to occur when a user spots a transaction in the mempool and then pays a high transaction fee to a validator to have their transaction executed on a priority basis in a manner designed to profit from the pending but unexecuted transaction that is still in the mempool. MEV may also compromise the predictability of transaction execution, which may deter usage of the network as a whole. Although based on widely available information given that transactions in the mempool are publicly visible, any potential perception of MEV as unfair manipulation may also discourage users and other stakeholders from engaging with DeFi protocols or the Ethereum network in general. In addition, it is possible regulators or legislators could enact rules which restrict practices associated with MEV, which could diminish the popularity of the Ethereum network among users and validators. Any of these or other outcomes related to MEV may adversely affect the value of ether and the value of the Shares.
If a malicious actor or botnet obtains control of more than 33% of the validating stake on the Ethereum network, or otherwise obtains control over the Ethereum network through its influence over core developers or otherwise, such actor or botnet could delay or manipulate the Ethereum blockchain, which could adversely affect the value of the Shares or the ability of the Fund to operate.
All networked systems are vulnerable to various types of attacks. As with any computer network, the Ethereum network contains certain flaws. For example, the Ethereum networks is currently vulnerable to several types of attacks, including:
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“>33% attack” where, if a validator or group of validators were to gain control of more than 33% of the staked ether, a malicious actor could cause a temporary fork in the blockchain. This is believed to be temporary, as the Ethereum network’s inactivity leak would be expected to eventually penalize the attacker enough for the chain to finalize again (i.e., the honest majority would be expected to reclaim 2/3rd stake as the attacker’s stake is penalized). However, it is not believed that with 33% control, a malicious actor could engage in double-spending or fraudulent block propagation.
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“>50% attack” where, if a validator or group of validators acting in concert were to gain control of more than 50% of the staked ether, a malicious actor would be able to gain full control of the network and the ability to manipulate the blockchain, potentially for an extended period or even permanently. In theory, the minority non-attackers might reach social consensus to reject blocks proposed by the malicious majority attacker, reducing the attacker’s ability to engage in malicious activity, but there can be no assurance this would happen or that non-attackers would be able to coordinate effectively.
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“>66% attack” where, if a validator or group of validators acting in concert were to gain control of more than 66% of the staked ether, a malicious actor could permanently and irreversibly manipulate the blockchain, including censorship, double-spending and fraudulent block propagation. The attacker could finalize their preferred chain without any consideration for the votes of other stakers and could also revert finalized blocks.
If a malicious actor or botnet (a volunteer or hacked collection of computers controlled by networked software coordinating the actions of the computers) obtains a majority (over 50%) of the validating power on the Ethereum network, it may be able to alter the Ethereum blockchain on which transactions in ether rely by constructing fraudulent blocks or preventing certain transactions from completing in a timely manner, or at all. The malicious actor or botnet could also control, exclude or modify the ordering of transactions. Although the malicious actor or botnet would not be able to generate new tokens or transactions using such control, it could “double-spend” its own tokens (i.e., spend the same tokens in more than one transaction) and prevent the confirmation of other users’ transactions for so long as it maintained control (over 50%). To the extent that such malicious actor or botnet did not yield its control of the validating power on the Ethereum network or the Ethereum community did not reject the fraudulent blocks as malicious, reversing any changes made to the Ethereum blockchain may not be possible. If the malicious actor were to gain control of more than 33% of the total staked ether on the Ethereum network, they could temporarily impede or delay block confirmation or even cause a temporary fork in the blockchain, but it is not believed that they could in double-spending or fraudulent block propagation. Even without a 33% control, a malicious actor or botnet could create a flood of transactions in order to slow down the Ethereum network (similar to a denial of service attack).
For example, in August 2020, the Ethereum Classic Network was the target of two double-spend attacks by an unknown actor or actors that gained more than 50% of the processing power of the Ethereum Classic Network. The attacks resulted in reorganizations of the Ethereum Classic Blockchain that allowed the attacker or attackers to reverse previously recorded transactions in excess of $5.0 million and $1.0 million.
In addition, in May 2019, the Bitcoin Cash network experienced a 51% attack when two large mining pools reversed a series of transactions in order to stop an unknown miner from taking advantage of a flaw in a recent Bitcoin Cash protocol upgrade. Although this particular attack was arguably benevolent, the fact that such coordinated activity was able to occur may negatively impact perceptions of the Bitcoin Cash network. Although the two attacks described above took place on proof-of-work-based networks, it is possible that a similar attack may occur on the proof-of-stake Ethereum network, which could negatively impact the value of ether and the value of the Shares.
Although there are no known reports of malicious activity on, or control of, the Ethereum network, it is possible that certain groups of coordinating or connected ether holders may together have more than 50% of outstanding ether, which if staked and if the users run validators, would permit them to exert authority over the validation of ether transactions. This risk is heightened if over 50% of the processing power on the network falls within the jurisdiction of a single governmental authority. If network participants, including the core developers and the administrators of validating pools, do not act to ensure greater decentralization of ether, the feasibility of a malicious actor obtaining control of the validating power on the Ethereum network will increase, which may adversely affect the value of the Shares. See also “Liquid staking applications pose centralization concerns” below.
A malicious actor may also obtain control over the Ethereum network through its influence over core developers by gaining direct control over a core developer or an otherwise influential programmer. To the extent that nodes, users and validators accept amendments to the source code proposed by the controlled core developer, other core developers do not counter such amendments, and such amendments enable the malicious exploitation of the Ethereum network, the risk that a malicious actor may be able to obtain control of the Ethereum network in this manner exists. Moreover, it is possible that a group of ether holders that together control more than 50% of outstanding ether are in fact part of the initial or current core developer group, or are otherwise influential members of the Ethereum community. To the extent that the initial or current core developer groups also control more than 50% of outstanding ether, as some believe, the risk of and arising from this particular group of users obtaining control of the validating power on the Ethereum network will be even greater, and should this materialize, it may adversely affect the value of the Shares.
Furthermore, ether may be subject to supply chain attacks, in which hackers target third-party components, services or software that a digital asset network relies on instead of attacking the network itself. For example, in April 2025, a malware attack was discovered in a widely used open-source JavaScript library associated with the XRP Ledger. The malicious code was inserted through a supply chain vulnerability and had the potential to compromise applications built using the affected library. While the core XRP Ledger protocol and validator infrastructure were not directly compromised, some third-party applications that integrated the compromised library may have been exposed to risks, including unauthorized access to user data and disruption of application functionality. The vulnerability was identified and remediated by the developer community shortly after discovery, and no material exploitation of the malware has been publicly confirmed. However, the incident highlights the risks attendant to reliance on third-party software components. Future incidents of a similar nature could adversely affect confidence in the digital asset markets or blockchain technologies generally, which could negatively impact the value of the Shares or the Fund's ability to operate.
Liquid staking applications pose centralization concerns.
Validators must deposit 32 ether to activate a unique validator key pair that is used to sign block proposals and attestations on behalf of its stake (i.e., vote on its view of the chain). For every 32 ether deposit that is staked, a unique validator key pair is generated. An application built on the Ethereum network, or a single node operator, can manage many validator key pairs. For example, Lido, an application that provides a so-called “liquid staking” solution which permits holders of ether to deposit them with Lido, which stakes the ether while issuing the holder a transferrable token, is reported by some sources to have or have had up to 275,000 validator key pairs (each representing 32 staked ether) divided across over 30 node operators. At times, Lido has reportedly controlled around or in excess of 33% of the total staked ether on the Ethereum network. While it is widely believed that Lido has little incentive to attempt to interfere with transaction finality or block confirmations using its reported 33% stake, since doing so would likely cause its entire stake to be slashed and thus lost (assuming good actors unaffiliated with Lido controlled the remainder), and also because Lido is believed to not control most of the third party node operators where its ether is staked, and finally since the occurrence of such manipulation of the Ethereum network’s consensus process by Lido or any other actor would likely cause ether to lose substantial value (which would obviously hurt Lido economically), it nevertheless poses centralization concerns. If Lido, or a bad actor with a similar sized stake, were to attempt to interfere with transaction finality or block confirmations, it could negatively affect the use and adoption of the Ethereum network, the value of ether, and thus the value of the Shares.
A temporary or permanent “fork” could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
The Ethereum network operates using open-source protocols, meaning that any user can become a node by downloading the Ethereum Client, and participating in the Ethereum network, and no permission of a central authority or body is needed to do so. In addition, anyone can propose a modification to the Ethereum network’s source code and then propose that the Ethereum network community support the modification. These proposed modifications to the Ethereum network’s source code, if adopted, can lead to forks (referred to as “planned forks” because they take place through a formal process).
In the case of planned forks, the core developers, including those associated with or funded by the Ethereum Foundation, are able to access and alter the Ethereum network source code and, as a result, they are typically responsible for proposing quasi-official or widely publicized releases of updates and other changes to the Ethereum network’s source code called EIPS. Any user can propose an idea for modifying the Ethereum network’s source code, and the core developers are responsible for mering the proposed idea into the EIP repository on GitHub, where it formally becomes an EIP. However, the release of proposed updates to the Ethereum network’s source code by core developers does not guarantee that the updates will be automatically adopted. The developers of each Ethereum Client must agree to implement the EIP’s changes to the Ethereum network in the source code for their respective client software, nodes must accept the changes made available by the developers of the Ethereum Client software they use by choosing to individually download the modified Ethereum Client software, and ultimately a critical mass of validators and users - such as DApp and smart contract developers, as well as end users of DApps and smart contracts, and anyone else who transacts on the Ethereum blockchain or Ethereum network - must support the shift, or the upgrades will lack adoption.
Typically, in the case of a planned fork, once the EIPs are formally introduced by being merged into the EIP repository on GitHub, a robust debate within the Ethereum community as to the advisability of the proposed change ordinary follows. Assuming the core developers at the protocol level and the developers of individual Ethereum Clients reach a broad consensus among themselves in favor of introducing the change into the respective source code they are responsible for developing and maintaining, the source code modification will be introduced and made available to download. A modification of the Ethereum network’s source code is only effective with respect to the Ethereum nodes that download it and modify their Ethereum Clients accordingly, and in practice such decisions are heavily influenced by the preferences of validators and users. Typically, after a modification is introduced and if a sufficiently broad critical mass of users and validators support the modification and nodes download the modification into their individual Ethereum Clients, the change is implemented and the Ethereum network continues to operate uninterrupted, assuming there are no software issues (e.g., bugs, outages, etc.). However, if less than a sufficiently broad critical mass (in practice, amounting to a substantial majority) of users and validators support the proposed modification and nodes refuse to download the modification to their Ethereum Clients, and the modification is not backwards compatible with the Ethereum blockchain or network or the Ethereum Clients of nodes prior to their modification, the consequence would be what is known as a “hard fork” of the Ethereum network, with one group of nodes running the pre-modified software, with users and validators continuing to use the pre-modified software, while the other group would adopt and run the modified software. The effect of such a hard fork would be the existence of two versions of the Ethereum network running in parallel on separate networks using separate blockchain ledgers, yet lacking interchangeability. In practice, in a hard fork, the two networks would compete with each other for developers, node operators, users, validators, and adoption, potentially to their mutual detriment (for example, if the number of validators on each network is too small leading to security concerns, as discussed below, or if the number of users on each is reduced compared to the number of users of the single pre-fork blockchain network). Debates relating to hard forks can be contentious and hard fought among network participants, and can lead to ill will. Another possible result of a hard fork is an inherent decrease in the level of security due to significant amounts of validating power remaining on one network or migrating instead to the new forked network. After a hard fork, it may become easier for an individual validator or validating pool’s validating power to exceed 50% of the total on either network, thereby making them both more susceptible to attack.
A future fork in the Ethereum network could adversely affect the value of the Shares or the ability of the Fund to operate. A fork could also adversely affect the price of ether at the time of announcement or adoption or subsequently. For example, the announcement of a hard fork could lead to increased demand for the pre-fork digital asset, in anticipation that ownership of the pre-fork digital asset would entitle holders to a new digital asset following the fork. The increased demand for the pre-fork digital asset may cause the price of the digital asset to rise. After the hard fork, it is possible the aggregate price of the two versions of the digital asset running in parallel would be less than the price of the digital asset immediately prior to the fork. Alternatively, as with any change to software code, software upgrades and other changes to the source code or protocols of the Ethereum network could fail to work as intended or could introduce bugs, coding defects, unanticipated or undiscovered problems, flaws, or security risks, create problematic economic incentives which incentivize behavior which has a negative effect on the Ethereum network’s users, validators, or the Ethereum network as a whole, or otherwise adversely affect, the speed, security, usability, or value of the Ethereum network or ether. If a fork caused operational problems for either post-fork network or blockchain, the digital assets associated with the affected network could lose some or all of their value. Furthermore, while the Sponsor will, as permitted by the terms of the Declaration of Trust, determine which network is generally accepted as the Ethereum network and should therefore be considered the appropriate network for the Fund’s purposes, and there is no guarantee that the Sponsor will choose the network and the associated digital asset that is ultimately the most valuable fork. Any of these events could therefore adversely impact the value of the Shares.
On March 13, 2024, the Ethereum network underwent a planned fork called “Dencun” implementing a series of EIPs. EIP 4844, which some commentators perceive to be the most significant EIP within the Dencun series, is intended to improve the economics of Layer 2s by reducing transaction fees for Layer 2s who batch transactions executed on the Layer 2s and upload them as a batch (or as a single proof) onto the main Layer 1 Ethereum network. Among other objectives, the Dencun software upgrade was designed to provide Layer 2 scaling solutions a designated storage space on the Layer 1 Ethereum network, called Binary Large Objects (“blobs"), which attach large data chunks to transactions on the Layer 1 Ethereum network and are recorded on its blockchain. The data in blobs become inaccessible on the Layer 1 Ethereum network after a temporary period of time (three weeks), unlike the previous method of storing batched data from Layer 2s on the Layer 1 Ethereum network, which was stored permanently. The cost of accessing the temporary storage in blobs is expected by proponents of the Dencun upgrade to be substantially lower than the cost of storing the data on the Ethereum Layer 1 network permanently, making Layer 2s more cost-efficient to operate and, some commentators hope, making them more attractive as a scaling solution. Immediately following the upgrade, some Layer 2s reportedly experienced reduced transaction fees when batching transactions to the main Layer 1 Ethereum network, which in turn lowered the transaction costs for executing transactions on such Layer 2s, but this also is believed to have resulted in ether prices (ether being the native asset of the Layer 1 Ethereum network) dropping as well due, in part, to the reduced demand for ether to pay the transaction costs of recording data on the Layer 1 Ethereum network. Decreased ether prices could have an adverse effect on the value of the Shares. Additionally, some Layer 2s, such as Blast, reportedly experienced outages and other disruptions in the aftermath of the Dencun upgrade, which in the case of Blast halted block production on the Blast Layer 2 blockchain for a period of time, though it was reportedly restored afterward. As with any change to software code, planned forks such as Dencun could introduce bugs, coding defects, unanticipated or undiscovered problems, flaws, security risks, problematic incentive structures, or otherwise fail to work as intended or achieve the expected benefits that proponents hope for in the short term or the long term, which could also have an adverse effect on adoption of the Ethereum network and the value of ether, and therefore the Shares.
In September 2022, the Ethereum network transitioned to a proof-of-stake consensus model, in an upgrade referred to as the “Merge.” Following the Merge, a hard fork of the Ethereum network occurred, as a small number of Ethereum validators and network participants planned to maintain the proof-of-work consensus mechanism that was removed as part of the Merge. This version of the network, which is not backwards-compatible with the Ethereum Layer 1 blockchain, is considered a forked branch and was rebranded as “Ethereum Proof-of-Work.” To the extent significant developer talent, users or validators abandon the Ethereum Layer 1 network and adopt the Ethereum Proof-of-Work blockchain instead, the value of the Shares could be adversely affected. The Merge occurred on September 15, 2022 and the price of ether decreased by approximately 17.4% from September 12, 2022 to September 16, 2022, the day after the Merge.
As illustrated by Dencun and the Merge, the Ethereum network regularly implements planned forks in an effort to achieve its development roadmap, advance the scalability process, and to improve the network generally. For example, in connection with the Ethereum development roadmap, the Ethereum network executed planned forks to transition from the initial Frontier development stage into the Homestead development stage in 2016; to transition from the Homestead development stage to the first sub-stage, Byzantium, of the Metropolis development stage in 2017; to transition from the Byzantium sub-stage to the St. Petersburg sub-stage in early 2019; and to transition from the St. Petersburg sub-stage to the Istanbul sub-phase, in late 2019. In April 2021, the Ethereum network underwent the Berlin and Altair planned forks, among others. In 2022, Ethereum underwent the Bellatrix and Paris planned forks in connection with the Merge. In 2023, Ethereum underwent the Capella and Shanghai planned forks (collectively, “Shapella”), which enabled withdrawals of staked assets to the Ethereum Layer 1 blockchain mainnet for the first time (they had previously been locked on the Beacon Chain testnet following the Merge). On May 7, 2025, "Pectra" which is a combination of the Prague execution layer hard fork and the Electra consensus layer upgrade, went live. Pectra, among other changes, increased the maximum amount of ether that a validator can stake from 32 to 2,048, allowing validators to manage higher balances with the goal of potentially reducing costs; introduce account abstraction, allowing externally owned accounts (EOAs) to temporarily function like smart contracts; and reduce security risks and shorten the wait time for new validators. Any of these or future planned forks could fail to work as intended or could introduce bugs, coding defects, unanticipated or undiscovered problems, flaws, or security risks, create problematic economic incentives which incentivize behavior which has a negative effect on the Ethereum network’s nodes, users, validators, or the Ethereum network as a whole, or otherwise adversely affect, the speed, security, usability, or value of the Ethereum network or ether. Alternatively, such hard forks could be contentious, leading to a split and fracture in the Ethereum community to its collective detriment, as discussed above. Any such outcomes could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
Forks may also occur as a digital asset network community’s response to a significant security breach. For example, in July 2016, Ethereum underwent a hard fork between the Layer 1 Ethereum network and a new digital asset running on a “forked” branch of the work, Ethereum Classic, as a result of the Ethereum network community’s response to a significant security breach. In June 2016, an anonymous hacker exploited a smart contract running on the Ethereum network to syphon approximately $60 million of ether held by The DAO, a distributed autonomous organization, into a segregated account. In response to the hack, and after a contentious debate, most participants in the Ethereum community elected to adopt a “hard fork” that effectively reversed the hack, and this network constitutes the Layer 1 Ethereum network. However, a minority of users continued to develop the original blockchain, now referred to as “Ethereum Classic,” which is not backwards-compatible with the Layer 1 Ethereum network and is considered a forked branch, with the native digital asset on that blockchain now referred to as Ethereum Classic, or ETC. ETC now trades on several digital asset platforms. Following the July 2016 hard fork between the Ethereum and Ethereum Classic networks, new security concerns surfaced. Replay attacks, in which transactions from one network were rebroadcast to nefarious effect on the other network, plagued Ethereum platforms through at least October 2016. An Ethereum platform announced in July 2016 that it had lost 40,000 Ethereum Classic, worth about $100,000 at that time, as a result of replay attacks. Similar replay attack concerns occurred in connection with the Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision networks split in November 2018, and security concerns could similarly surface in connection with future hard forks.
An unplanned fork may also occur as a result of an unintentional or unanticipated software flaw in the various versions of Ethereum Client software that nodes run and use to access the Ethereum network. For example, such an unplanned fork reportedly occurred in the Go-Ethereum (“Geth”) client, which is a popular Ethereum Client that many nodes use to access the Ethereum network and whose developers are financially supported by the Ethereum Foundation. In November 2020, a bug was discovered in Geth (but not the other Ethereum Clients at the time, such as Besu, OpenEthereum, and Nethermind), and a patch was released that all nodes using the Geth client were supposed to download and apply simultaneously. However, not all nodes using Geth did so, resulting with the non-patched Geth nodes temporarily running a different version of the Ethereum blockchain than the patched Geth nodes and nodes using other Ethereum Clients. This temporarily created two conflicting versions of the Ethereum blockchain, causing the nodes using the non-patched Geth version to be unable to reach consensus with the rest of the nodes on the Ethereum blockchain, interrupting the non-patch Geth nodes' access to the Ethereum network. For example, Infura, which is a node operator that provides services to major Ethereum smart contracts, wallet software providers like MetaMask, ether trading platforms, and other market participants, reportedly ran numerous nodes using the Geth client. Infura's Geth client-running nodes reportedly used the outdated, non-patched Geth version initially, which is said to have caused those nodes to be on the minority blockchain, impacting transaction execution, validation, and recording on the main Layer 1 Ethereum network for Infura's customers - such as Ethereum-based smart contracts, wallet providers like MetaMask, ether trading platforms, etc. - until Infura was able to apply the software update released by the Geth client developers to Infura's nodes that use Geth as their Ethereum Client. Ultimately, the problem was reportedly fixed by releasing a new upgraded version of Geth that all nodes using the Geth client were to promptly download. This reportedly harmonized the conflicting versions and restored synchronization among Geth nodes, fixing the problem and restoring access to the Ethereum network, including for Infura and its customers.
In the future, if an accidental or unintentional fork similar to what happened within the Geth client in November 2020 were to reoccur within Geth (or any other major Ethereum Client), or were to happen to the Ethereum network as a whole (instead of being limited to a single Ethereum Client, in this case Geth), such a fork could lead to nodes, users and validators losing confidence in the Ethereum network and abandoning it in favor of other blockchain protocols. Furthermore, it is possible that, in a future unplanned fork, a substantial number of nodes, users and validators could adopt an incompatible version of the digital asset while resisting community-led efforts to merge the two chains, resulting in a permanent fork. Moreover, following the Merge, nodes on the Ethereum network must run two Ethereum Clients, i.e., an Execution Client and a Consensus Client paired together, with the implementations selected at the discretion of the node operator. There are multiple groups independently developing and implementing their respective Execution Clients and Consensus Clients; while some individual Execution Clients or Consensus Clients are more popular or widely adopted than others, there remains heterogeneity among Ethereum Clients. Each Execution Client and Consensus Client needs to interoperate effectively with each other Execution Client and Consensus Client. Although this diversity of Ethereum Clients is perceived by some to promote decentralization of the Ethereum network, it comes at a potential cost: if there are any unanticipated or undiscovered flaws, bugs, software defects, or interoperability failures causing any individual Execution Client to fail to interoperate effectively with any other individual Execution Client or any Consensus Client, the Ethereum network as a whole could suffer an unplanned fork, major disruption, catastrophic outage, system failure, loss of confidence or adoption among users or validators, or a variety of other problems. Any of these events could cause ether to decline in value, adversely affecting the price of Shares.
Protocols may also be cloned. Unlike a fork, which modifies an existing blockchain, and results in two competing networks, each with the same genesis block, a “clone” is a copy of a protocol’s codebase, but results in an entirely new blockchain and new genesis block. Tokens are created solely from the new “clone” network and, in contrast to forks, holders of tokens of the existing network that was cloned do not receive any tokens of the new network. A “clone” results in a competing network that has characteristics substantially similar to the network it was based on, subject to any changes as determined by the developer(s) that initiated the clone. For example, following the DOA hacks in July 2016, holders of Ethereum voted on-chain to reverse the hack, effectively causing a hard fork. For the days following the vote, the price of Ethereum rose from $11.65 on July 15, 2016 to $14.66 on July 21, 2016, the day after the first Ethereum Classic block was minded. A clone may also adversely affect the price of ether at the time of announcement or adoption or subsequently. For example, on November 6, 2016, Rhett Creighton, a Zcash developer, cloned the Zcash Network to launch Zclassic, a substantially identical version of the Zcash Network that eliminated the Founders’ Reward. For the days following the date the first Zclassic block was mined, the price of ZEC fell from $504.57 on November 5, 2016 to $236.01 on November 7, 2016 in the midst of a broader sell off of ZEC beginning immediately after the Zcash Network launch on October 28, 2016.
Furthermore, a hard fork can lead to new security concerns. For example, when the Ethereum and Ethereum Classic networks split in July 2016, replay attacks, in which transactions from one network were rebroadcast to nefarious effect on the other network, plagued Ethereum exchanges through at least October 2016. An Ethereum exchange announced in July 2016 that it had lost 40,000 Ethereum Classic, worth about $100,000 at that time, as a result of replay attacks.
As another example of the effects of hard forks on digital assets, on September 15, 2022, the Ethereum Network completed its merge, moving from a proof-of-work model to a proof-of-stake model. Ethereum proof-of-work miners who disagreed with the new consensus mechanism forked the network which resulted in the Ethereum proof-of-work network. Ethereum proof-of-work network was driven by a small but vocal group of miners who wished to hold onto revenue as Ethereum switched to proof-of-stake. The vast majority of token holder votes preferred the new proof-of-stake consensus method. There was no material impact on the Ethereum network as a result of the fork. All ether holders were airdropped Ethereum proof-of-work network tokens as a result of the hard fork. However, not all liquidity providers were able to trade the new token and the Ethereum proof-of-work network token almost immediately lost most of its value.
A future fork in a Digital Asset's networks could adversely affect the value of the Shares or the ability of the Fund to operate.
Shareholders will not receive the benefits of any Incidental Rights and any IR Virtual Currency, including any forked or airdropped assets.
In addition to forks, a digital asset may become subject to a similar occurrence known as an “airdrop.” In an airdrop, the promotors of a new digital asset announce to holders of another digital asset that such holders will be entitled to claim a certain amount of the new digital asset for free, based on the fact that they hold such other digital asset. For example, in March 2017 the promoters of Stellar Lumens announced that anyone that owned bitcoin as of June 26, 2017 could claim, until August 27, 2017, a certain amount of Stellar Lumens. Airdrops could create operational, security, legal or regulatory, or other risks for the Fund, the Sponsor, the Ether Custodian, Authorized Participants, or other entities.
The Fund does not intend to hold assets other than ether and cash. Accordingly, Shareholders may not receive the benefits of any forks, the Fund may not choose, or be able, to participate in an airdrop, and the timing of receiving any benefits from a fork, airdrop or similar event is uncertain. We refer to the right to receive any such benefit as an “Incidental Right” and any such virtual currency acquired through an Incidental Right as “IR Virtual Currency.” The Sponsor has the right, in the Sponsor’s sole discretion, to determine: (i) with respect to any fork, airdrop or similar event, what action the Fund shall take, and (ii) what action to take in connection with the Fund’s entitlement to or ownership of Incidental Rights or any IR Virtual Currency. The Sponsor intends to evaluate each fork, airdrop or similar occurrence on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the Fund’s legal advisors, tax consultants, the Administrator, and the Ether Custodian. The Sponsor is under no obligation to realize any economic benefit from any Incidental Rights or IR Virtual Currency on behalf of the Fund.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, with respect to any airdrop of any non-ether crypto asset, including Incidental Rights and/or IR Virtual Currency, or in the event of a fork where it has been determined, in the discretion of the Sponsor, that the crypto asset received by the Fund is not ether, or any similar event, the Sponsor will cause the Fund to irrevocably abandon such non-ether crypto asset.
There are likely to be operational, tax, securities law, regulatory, legal and practical issues that significantly limit, or prevent entirely, Shareholders’ ability to realize a benefit, through their Shares in the Fund, from any airdrop, fork or similar event. Additionally, as noted above the Fund may only hold ether and cash.
Although the Sponsor is under no obligation to do so, an inability to realize the economic benefit of a hard fork or airdrop could adversely affect the value of the Shares. Investors who prefer to have a greater degree of control over events such as forks, airdrops, and similar events, and any assets made available in connection with each, should consider investing in ether directly rather than purchasing Shares. In the event of a hard fork of the Ethereum network, the Sponsor will use its discretion to determine which network should be considered the appropriate network for the Fund’s purposes, and in doing so may adversely affect the value of the Shares.
In the event of a hard fork of the Ethereum network, the Sponsor will, if permitted by the terms of the Declaration of Trust, use its discretion to determine which network should be considered the appropriate network for the Fund’s purposes, and in doing so may adversely affect the value of the Shares.
In the event of a hard fork of the Ethereum network, the Sponsor will, as permitted by the terms of the Declaration of Trust, use its sole discretion to determine, in good faith, which peer-to-peer network, among a group of incompatible forks of the Ethereum network, is generally accepted as the Ethereum network and should therefore be considered the appropriate network for the Fund’s purposes. The Sponsor will base its determination on whatever factors it deems relevant, including, but not limited to, the Sponsor’s beliefs regarding expectations of the core developers of ether, users, services, businesses, validators and other constituencies, as well as the actual continued acceptance of, validating power on, and community engagement with, the Ethereum network, or whatever other factors it deems relevant. There is no guarantee that the Sponsor will choose the digital asset that is ultimately the most valuable fork, and the Sponsor’s decision may adversely affect the value of the Shares as a result. The Sponsor may also disagree with Shareholders, the Ether Custodian, other service providers, the Index Administrator, cryptocurrency platforms, or other market participants on what is generally accepted as ether and should therefore be considered “ether” for the Fund’s purposes, which may also adversely affect the value of the Shares as a result.
Any name change and any associated rebranding initiative by the core developers, users or validators of ether or the Ethereum network may not be favorably received by the digital asset community, which could negatively impact the value of ether and the value of the Shares.
From time to time, digital assets may undergo name changes and associated rebranding initiatives. For example, Bitcoin Cash may sometimes be referred to as Bitcoin ABC in an effort to differentiate itself from any Bitcoin Cash hard forks, such as Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision, and in the third quarter of 2018, the team behind ZEN rebranded and changed the name of ZenCash to “Horizen.” The Sponsor cannot predict the impact of any name change and any associated rebranding initiative on ether. After a name change and an associated rebranding initiative, a digital asset may not be able to achieve or maintain brand name recognition or status that is comparable to the recognition and status previously enjoyed by such digital asset. The failure of any name change and any associated rebranding initiative by a digital asset may result in such digital asset not realizing some or all of the anticipated benefits contemplated by the name change and associated rebranding initiative, and could negatively impact the value of ether and the value of the Shares.
Smart contracts, including those relating to DeFi applications, are a new technology and their ongoing development and operation may result in problems, which could reduce the demand for ether or cause a wider loss of confidence in the Ethereum network, either of which could have an adverse impact on the value of ether.
Smart contracts are programs that run on the Ethereum blockchain that execute automatically when certain conditions are met. Since smart contracts typically cannot be stopped or reversed, vulnerabilities in their programming can have damaging effects. For example, in June 2016, a vulnerability in the smart contracts underlying The DAO allowed an attack by a hacker to syphon approximately $60 million worth of ether from The DAO’s accounts into a segregated account. In the aftermath of the theft, certain core developers and contributors pursued a “hard fork” of the Ethereum network in order to erase any record of the theft. Despite these efforts, the price of ether reportedly dropped approximately 35% in the aftermath of the attack and subsequent hard fork. In addition, in July 2017, a vulnerability in a smart contract for a multi-signature wallet software developed by Parity led to a reportedly $30 million theft of ether, and in November 2017, a new vulnerability in Parity’s wallet software reportedly led to roughly $160 million worth of ether being indefinitely frozen in an account. Furthermore, in April 2018, a batch overflow bug was found in many Ethereum-based ERC20-compatible smart contract tokens that allows hackers to create a large number of smart contract tokens, causing multiple crypto asset platforms worldwide to shut down ERC20-compatible token trading. Similarly, in March 2020, a design flaw in the MakerDAO smart contract caused forced liquidations of crypto assets at significantly discounted prices, resulting in millions of dollars of losses to users who had deposited crypto assets into the smart contract. Other smart contracts, such as bridges between blockchain networks and DeFi protocols have also been manipulated, exploited or used in ways that were not intended or envisioned by their creators such that attackers syphoned over $3.8 billion worth of digital assets from smart contracts in 2022. Problems with the development, deployment, and operation of smart contracts may have an adverse effect on the value of ether.
In some cases, smart contracts can be controlled by one or more “admin keys” or users with special privileges, or “super users.” These users may have the ability to unilaterally make changes to the smart contract, enable or disable features on the smart contract, change how the smart contract receives external inputs and data or transmits ether or other digital assets, and make other changes to the smart contract. Furthermore, in some cases inadequate public information may be available about certain smart contracts or applications, and information asymmetries may exist, even with respect to open-source smart contracts or applications; certain participants may have hidden informational or technological advantages, making for an uneven playing field. There may be opportunities for bad actors to perpetrate fraudulent schemes and engage in illicit activities and other misconduct, such as exit scams and rug pulls (orchestrated by developers and/or influencers who promote a smart contract or application and, ultimately, escape with the money at an agreed time), or Ponzi or similar fraud schemes.
Many DeFi applications are currently deployed on the Ethereum network, and smart contracts relating to DeFi applications currently represent a significant source of demand for ether. DeFi applications may achieve their investment purposes through self-executing smart contracts that may allow users, for example, to invest digital assets in a pool from which other users can borrow without requiring an intermediate party to facilitate these transactions. These investments may earn interest to the investor based on the rates at which borrowers repay the loan, and can generally be withdrawn by the investor. For smart contracts that hold a pool of digital asset reserves, smart contract super users or admin key holders may be able to extract funds from the pool, liquidate assets held in the pool, or take other actions that decrease the value of the digital assets held by the smart contract in reserves. Even for digital assets that have adopted a decentralized governance mechanism, such as smart contracts that are governed by the holders of a governance token, such governance tokens can be concentrated in the hands of a small group of core community members, who would be able to make similar changes unilaterally to the smart contract. If any such super user or group of core members unilaterally make adverse changes to a smart contract, the design, functionality, features and value of the smart contract, its related digital assets may be harmed. In addition, assets held by the smart contract in reserves may be stolen, misused, burnt, locked up or otherwise become unusable and irrecoverable. Super users can also become targets of hackers and malicious attackers. If an attacker is able to access or obtain the super user privileges of a smart contract, or if a smart contract’s super users or core community members take actions that adversely affect the smart contract, users who transact with the smart contract may experience decreased functionality of the smart contract or may suffer a partial or total loss of any digital assets they have used to transact with the smart contract. Furthermore, the underlying smart contracts may be insecure, contain bugs or other vulnerabilities, or otherwise may not work as intended. Any of the foregoing could cause users of the DeFi application to be negatively affected, or could cause the DeFi application to be the subject of negative publicity. Because DeFi applications may be built on the Ethereum network and represent a significant source of demand for ether, public confidence in the Ethereum network itself could be negatively affected, such sources of demand could diminish, and the value of ether could decrease. Similar risks apply to any smart contract or decentralized application, not just DeFi applications.
Validators may suffer losses due to staking, or staking may prove unattractive to validators, which could make the Ethereum network less attractive.
Validation on the Ethereum network requires ether to be transferred into smart contracts on the underlying blockchain networks not under the Trust’s or anyone else’s control. If the Ethereum network source code or protocol fail to behave as expected, suffer cybersecurity attacks or hacks, experience security issues, or encounter other problems, such assets may be irretrievably lost. The Ethereum network imposes three types of sanctions for validator misbehavior or inactivity, which would result in a portion of their staked ether being destroyed or “burned”: penalties, slashing and inactivity leaks. A validator may face penalties if it fails to take certain actions, such as providing a timely attestation to a block proposed by another validator. Under this scenario, a validator’s staked ether could be burned in an amount equal to the reward to which it would have been entitled for performing the actions. A more severe sanction (i.e., “slashing”) is imposed if a validator commits malicious acts related to the proposal or attestation of blocks with invalid transactions. Slashing can result in the validator having a portion of its staked ether immediately confiscated, withdrawn, or burned by the network, resulting in losses to them. After this initial slashing, the validator is queued for forceful removal from the Ethereum network’s validator “pool,” and more of the validator’s stake is burned over a period of approximately 36 days with the exact amount of ether burned and time period determined by the network regardless of whether the validator makes any further slashable errors, at which point the validator is automatically removed from the validator pool. Staked ether may also be burned through a process known as an “inactivity leak,” which is triggered if the Ethereum network has gone too long without finalizing a new block. For a new block to be successfully added to the blockchain, validators that account for at least two-thirds of all staked ether must agree on the validity of a proposed block. This means that if validators representing more than one-third of the total staked ether are offline, no new blocks can be finalized. To prevent this, an inactivity leak causes the ether staked by the inactive validators to gradually “bleed away” until these inactive validators represent less than one-third of the total stake, thereby allowing the remaining active validators to finalize proposed blocks. This provides a further incentive for validators to remain online and continue performing validation activities. Within the post-Merge Ethereum network, as part of the “activating” and “exiting” processes of staking, staked ether will be inaccessible for a variable period of time determined by a range of factors, including network congestion, resulting in potential inaccessibility during those periods. “Activation” is the funding of a validator to be included in the active set, thereby allowing the validator to participate in the Ethereum network’s proof-of-stake consensus protocol. “Exit” is the request to exit from the active set and no longer participate in the Ethereum network’s proof-of-stake consensus protocol. As part of these “activating” and “exiting” processes of staking on the Ethereum network, any staked ether will be inaccessible for a period of time. The duration of activating and exiting periods are dependent on a range of factors, including network conditions. However, depending on demand, un-staking can take between hours, days or weeks to complete. Furthermore, the Ethereum network requires the payment of base fees and the practice of paying tips is common, and such fees can become significant as the amount and complexity of the transaction grows, depending on the degree of network congestion and the price of ether. Any cybersecurity attacks, security issues, hacks, penalties, slashing events, or other problems could damage validators’ willingness to participate in validation, discourage existing and future validators from serving as such, and adversely impact the Ethereum network’s adoption or the price of ether. Any disruption of validation on the Ethereum network could interfere with network operations and cause the Ethereum network to be less attractive to users and application developers than competing blockchain networks, which could cause the price of ether to decrease. The limited liquidity during the “activation” or “exiting” processes could dissuade potential validators from participating, which could interfere with network operations or security and cause the Ethereum network to be less attractive to users and application developers than competing blockchain networks, which could cause the price of ether to decrease.
Additionally, the Ethereum Blockchain implements “bonding” and “unbonding” buffer periods moderating when stakers can unstake and withdraw their stake. “Bonding” is the process of telling the network a token holder wants to stake tokens, and “unbonding” is the action of telling the network the token holder wants to unlock tokens. As part of these “bonding” and “unbonding” processes of Ethereum staking, any staked ether tokens will be inaccessible for a period of time. This prevents malicious actors from performing an attack and running away before their funds are slashed. The duration of bonding and unbonding periods are dependent on a range of factors, including network conditions. However, depending on demand, unstaking can take between hours, weeks or months to complete.
Proof-of-stake blockchains are a relatively recent innovation, and have not been subject to as widespread use or adoption over as long of a period of time as traditional proof-of-work blockchains.
Certain digital assets, such as bitcoin, use a “proof-of-work” consensus algorithm. The genesis block on the Bitcoin blockchain was mined in 2009, and Bitcoin’s blockchain has been in operation since then. Many newer blockchains enabling smart contract functionality, including the current Ethereum network following the completion of the Merge in 2022, use a newer consensus algorithm known as “proof-of-stake.” While their proponents believe that they may have certain advantages, the “proof-of-stake” consensus mechanisms and governance systems underlying many newer blockchain protocols, including the Ethereum network following the Merge, and their associated digital assets - including the ether held by the Fund - have not been tested at scale over as long of a period of time or subject to as widespread use or adoption as, for example, Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism has. This could lead to these blockchains, and their associated digital assets, having undetected vulnerabilities, structural design flaws, suboptimal incentive structures for network participants (e.g., validators), technical disruptions, or a wide variety of other problems, any of which could cause these blockchains not to function as intended, lead to outright failure to function entirely causing a total outage or disruption of network activity, or to suffer other operational problems or reputational damage, leading to a loss of users or adoption or a loss in value of the associated digital assets, including the Fund’s assets. Over the long term, there can be no assurance that the proof-of-stake blockchain on which the Fund’s assets rely will achieve widespread scale or adoption or perform successfully; any failure to do so could negatively impact the value of the Fund’s assets.
Unlike some digital assets, which have a limit on outstanding supply, there is no limit on ether supply.
Some digital assets have a limit on outstanding supply ("hard cap") on the supply of outstanding digital assets. There is no hard cap on the supply of ether, which will continue to be issued as a reward to validators for new blocks. The price of many digital assets like ether is heavily influenced by supply and demand. If the supply of ether is inflationary, then in the absence of deflationary forces, ether could lose value, assuming the same amount of demand.
Risk Factors Related to the Digital Asset Markets
The value of the Shares relates directly to the value of ether which has been in the past, and may continue to be, highly volatile and subject to fluctuations due to a number of factors.
The value of the Shares relates directly to the value of the ether held by the Fund and fluctuations in the price of ether could adversely affect the value of the Shares. The market price of ether may be highly volatile, and fluctuate in value due to a number of factors, including:
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an increase in the global ether supply or a decrease in global ether demand;
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general market sentiment towards or unfavorable conditions or developments within, the digital asset markets and/or blockchain technology industry;
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trading activity on digital asset platforms, which, in many cases, are largely unregulated or subject to regulation by a relevant jurisdiction but potentially non-compliant with such regulations or may be subject to manipulation;
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the adoption of ether as a medium of exchange, store-of-value or other consumptive asset and the maintenance and development of the open-source software protocol of the Ethereum network, and their ability to meet user demands;
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manipulative trading activity on digital asset platforms, which, in many cases, are largely unregulated;
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the lack of a hard cap on ether supply;
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forks in the Ethereum network;
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changes or instability in the leadership of the Ethereum Foundation;
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investors’ expectations with respect to interest rates, the rates of inflation of fiat currencies or ether, and digital asset exchange rates;
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consumer preferences and perceptions of ether specifically and digital assets generally;
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negative events, publicity, and social media coverage relating to the digital assets and blockchain technology industry;
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fiat currency withdrawal and deposit policies on digital asset platforms;
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the liquidity of digital asset markets and any increase or decrease in trading volume or market making on digital asset markets;
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business failures, bankruptcies, hacking, fraud, crime, government investigations, or other negative developments affecting digital asset businesses, including digital asset platforms, or banks or other financial institutions and service providers which provide services to the digital assets industry;
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the use of leverage in digital asset markets, including the unwinding of positions, “margin calls,” collateral liquidations and similar events;
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investment and trading activities of large or active consumer and institutional users, speculators, validators, and investors;
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a “short squeeze” resulting from speculation on the price of ether, if aggregate short exposure exceeds the number of Shares available for purchase;
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an active derivatives market for ether or for digital assets generally;
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monetary policies of governments, legislation or regulation, trade restrictions, tariffs, currency devaluations and revaluations and regulatory measures or enforcement actions, if any, that restrict the use of ether as a form of payment or the purchase of ether on the digital asset markets;
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global or regional political, economic or financial conditions, events and situations, or major public issues, including pandemics or health epidemics;
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fees associated with processing an ether transaction and the speed at which ether transactions are settled;
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the maintenance, troubleshooting, and development of the Ethereum network including by validators and developers worldwide;
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the ability for the Ethereum network to attract and retain validators to secure and confirm transactions accurately and efficiently;
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ongoing technological viability and security of the Ethereum network and ether transactions, including vulnerabilities against hacks and scalability;
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governmental or regulatory actions by, or investigations or litigation in, countries around the world targeting well-known decentralized applications or smart contracts that are built on the Ethereum network, or other developments or problems, and associated publicity, involving or affecting such decentralized applications or smart contracts;
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financial strength of market participants;
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the availability and cost of funding and capital;
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the liquidity and credit risk of digital asset platforms;
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interruptions in service from or closures or failures of major digital asset platforms or their banking partners, or outages or system failures affecting the Ethereum network;
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decreased confidence in digital assets and digital assets platforms;
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poor risk management or fraud by entities in the digital asset ecosystem;
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increased competition from other forms of digital assets or networks, including other blockchain networks combining smart contracts, programmable scripting languages, and an associated runtime environment, with blockchain-based recordkeeping, particularly where such other blockchain networks are able to offer users access to a larger consumer user base, greater efficiency, reliability, or processing speed, more economical transaction processing fees, or any other favorable attributes, than the Ethereum network; and
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the Fund’s own acquisitions or dispositions of ether, since there is no limit on the number of ether that the Fund may acquire.
Although returns from investing in ether have at times diverged from those associated with other asset classes to a greater or lesser extent, there can be no assurance that there will be any such divergence in the future, either generally or with respect to any particular asset class, or that price movements will not be correlated. In addition, there is no assurance that ether will maintain its value in the long, intermediate, short or any other term. In the event that the price of ether declines, the Sponsor expects the value of the Shares to decline proportionately.
The value of ether as represented by the Index or other pricing source used by the Fund may also be subject to momentum pricing due to speculation regarding future appreciation in value, leading to greater volatility that could adversely affect the value of the Shares. Momentum pricing typically is associated with growth stocks and other assets whose valuation, as determined by the investing public, accounts for future appreciation in value, if any. The Sponsor believes that momentum pricing of ether has resulted, and may continue to result, in speculation regarding future appreciation in the value of ether, inflating and making the Index more volatile. As a result, ether may be more likely to fluctuate in value due to changing investor confidence, which could impact future appreciation or depreciation in the Index or other pricing source used by the Fund and could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
Because the Fund holds only ether and cash, an investment in the Fund may be more volatile than an investment in a more broadly diversified portfolio.
The Fund holds only ether and cash. As a result, the Fund’s holdings are not diversified. Accordingly, the Fund’s net asset value may be more volatile than another investment vehicle with a more broadly diversified portfolio and may fluctuate substantially over short or long periods of time. Fluctuations in the price of ether are expected to have a direct impact on the value of the Shares.
An investment in the Fund may be deemed speculative and is not intended as a complete investment program. An investment in Shares should be considered only by persons financially able to maintain their investment and who can bear the risk of total loss associated with an investment in the Fund. Investors should review closely the objective and costs of the Fund, as discussed herein, and familiarize themselves with the risks associated with an investment in the Fund.
Due to the relative unregulated nature and lack of transparency surrounding the operations of digital asset platforms, which may experience fraud, manipulation, security failures or operational problems, as well as the wider ether market, the value of ether and, consequently, the value of the Shares may be adversely affected, causing losses to Shareholders.
Risk of loss of market confidence due to lack of established regulatory framework. Digital asset platforms are relatively new and, in some cases, may be unregulated or subject to regulation by a relevant jurisdiction but potentially non-compliant with such regulations. Many operate outside the United States. Furthermore, while many prominent digital asset platforms provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management teams, corporate practices and regulatory compliance, many digital asset platforms do not provide this information. Digital asset platforms may not be subject to, or may not comply with, regulation in a similar manner as other regulated trading platforms, such as national securities exchanges or designated contract markets. As a result, the marketplace may lose confidence in digital asset platforms, including prominent platforms that handle a significant volume of ether trading.
Risk of manipulative activity (e.g., wash trading, front running or other fraudulent practices). Many digital asset platforms are unlicensed, may be unregulated or subject to regulation by a relevant jurisdiction but potentially non-compliant with such regulations, operate without extensive supervision by governmental authorities, and do not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management team, corporate practices, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. In particular, those located outside the United States may be subject to significantly less stringent regulatory and compliance requirements in their local jurisdictions, and may take the position that they are not subject to laws and regulations that would apply to a national securities exchange or designated contract market in the United States, or may, as a practical matter, be beyond the ambit of U.S. regulators. As a result, trading activity on or reported by these digital asset platforms is generally significantly less regulated than trading in regulated U.S. securities and commodities markets, and may reflect behavior that would be prohibited in regulated U.S. trading venues. For example, in 2019 there were reports claiming that 80.95% of bitcoin trading volume on digital asset platforms was false or noneconomic in nature, with specific focus on unregulated platforms located outside of the United States. Such reports alleged that certain overseas platforms have displayed suspicious trading activity suggestive of a variety of manipulative or fraudulent practices, such as fake or artificial trading volume or trading volume based on non-economic “wash trading” (where offsetting trades are entered into for other than bona fide reasons, such as the desire to inflate reported trading volumes), and attributed such manipulative or fraudulent behavior to motives like the incentive to attract listing fees from token issuers who seek the most liquid and high-volume platforms on which to list their coins.
Other academics and market observers have put forth evidence to support claims that manipulative trading activity has occurred on certain digital asset platforms. For example, in a 2017 paper titled “Price Manipulation in the Bitcoin Ecosystem” sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center at Tel Aviv University, a group of researchers used publicly available trading data, as well as leaked transaction data from a 2014 Mt. Gox security breach, to identify and analyze the impact of “suspicious trading activity” on Mt. Gox between February and November 2013, which, according to the authors, caused the price of bitcoin to increase from around $150 to more than $1,000 over a two-month period. In August 2017, it was reported that a trader or group of traders nicknamed “Spoofy” was placing large orders on Bitfinex without actually executing them, presumably in order to influence other investors into buying or selling by creating a false appearance that greater demand existed in the market. In December 2017, an anonymous blogger (publishing under the pseudonym Bitfinex’d) cited publicly available trading data to support his or her claim that a trading bot nicknamed “Picasso” was pursuing a paint-the-tape-style manipulation strategy by buying and selling bitcoin and bitcoin cash between affiliated accounts in order to create the appearance of substantial trading activity and thereby influence the price of such assets. Although bitcoin and ether are different assets, there can be no assurance that ether prices may not at times be subject to similar activity. Even in the United States, there have been allegations of wash trading even on regulated venues. Any actual or perceived false trading in the digital asset platform market, and any other fraudulent or manipulative acts and practices, could adversely affect the value of digital assets and/or negatively affect the market perception of digital assets.
The ether market globally and in the United States is not subject to comparable regulatory guardrails as exist in regulated securities markets. Furthermore, many ether trading venues lack certain safeguards put in place by exchanges for more traditional assets to enhance the stability of trading on the exchanges and prevent “flash crashes,” such as limit-down circuit breakers, as demonstrated by the October 2025 Flash Crash. As a result, the prices of ether on trading venues may be subject to larger and/or more frequent sudden declines than assets traded on more traditional exchanges. Tools to detect and deter fraudulent or manipulative trading activities such as market manipulation, front-running of trades, and wash-trading may not be available to or employed by digital asset platforms, or may not exist at all. The SEC has identified possible sources of fraud and manipulation in the digital asset markets generally, including, among others (1) “wash trading”; (2) persons with a dominant position in a digital asset manipulating the digital asset’s pricing; (3) hacking of the digital asset’s peer-to-peer network, protocols and trading platforms; (4) malicious control of the digital asset network; (5) trading based on material, non-public information (for example, plans of market participants to significantly increase or decrease their holdings in the digital asset, new sources of demand for the digital asset, etc. or other events which could affect the price of the digital asset) or based on the dissemination of false and misleading information; (6) manipulative activity involving purported “stablecoins,” including Tether (for more information, see “Risk Factors-Risk Factors Related to Digital Assets-Prices of Ether may be affected due to stablecoins (including Tether and US Dollar Coin (“USDC”)), the activities of stablecoin issuers and their regulatory treatment”); and (7) fraud and manipulation at digital asset trading platforms. The effect of potential market manipulation, front-running, wash-trading, and other fraudulent or manipulative trading practices may inflate the volumes actually present in the digital asset markets and/or cause distortions in price, which could adversely affect the Fund or cause losses to Shareholders.
Risks related to platform bankruptcy, failure or closure, including as a result of criminal fraud, cyber attacks or other security breaches. In addition, over the past several years, some digital asset platforms have been closed, including due to fraud and manipulative activity, business failure or security breaches. In many of these instances, the customers of such digital asset platforms were not compensated or made whole for the partial or complete losses of their account balances in such digital asset platforms. While, generally speaking, smaller digital asset platforms are less likely to have the infrastructure and capitalization that make larger digital asset platforms more stable, larger digital asset platforms are more likely to be appealing targets for hackers and malware and their shortcomings or ultimate failures are more likely to have contagion effects on the digital asset ecosystem, and therefore may be more likely to be targets of regulatory enforcement action. For example, the collapse of Mt. Gox, which filed for bankruptcy protection in Japan in late February 2014, demonstrated that even the largest digital asset platforms could be subject to abrupt failure with consequences for both users of digital asset platforms and the digital asset industry as a whole. In particular, in the two weeks that followed the February 7, 2014 halt of bitcoin withdrawals from Mt. Gox, the value of one bitcoin fell on other platforms from around $795 on February 6, 2014 to $578 on February 20, 2014. Additionally, in January 2015, Bitstamp announced that approximately 19,000 bitcoin had been stolen from its operational or “hot” wallets. Further, in August 2016, it was reported that almost 120,000 bitcoins worth around $78 million were stolen from Bitfinex, a large digital asset platform. The value of bitcoin and other digital assets immediately decreased over 10% following reports of the theft at Bitfinex. Regulatory enforcement actions have followed, such as in July 2017, when FinCEN assessed a $110 million fine against BTC-E, a now defunct digital asset platform, for facilitating crimes such as drug sales and ransomware attacks. In addition, in December 2017, Yapian, the operator of Seoul-based digital asset platform Youbit, suspended digital asset trading and filed for bankruptcy following a hack that resulted in a loss of 17% of Yapian’s assets. Following the hack, Youbit users were allowed to withdraw approximately 75% of the digital assets in their platform accounts, with any potential further distributions to be made following Yapian’s pending bankruptcy proceedings. In addition, in January 2018, the Japanese digital asset platform, Coincheck, was hacked, resulting in losses of approximately $535 million, and in February 2018, the Italian digital asset platform Bitgrail, was hacked, resulting in approximately $170 million in losses. In May 2019, one of the world’s largest digital asset platforms, Binance, was hacked, resulting in losses of approximately $40 million. In November 2022, FTX Trading Ltd. (“FTX”), one of the largest digital asset platforms by volume at the time, halted customer withdrawals amid rumors of the company’s liquidity issues and likely insolvency, which were subsequently corroborated by its CEO. Shortly thereafter, FTX’s CEO resigned and FTX and many of its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in the United States, while other affiliates have entered insolvency, liquidation, or similar proceedings around the globe, following which the U.S. Department of Justice brought criminal fraud and other charges, and the SEC and CFTC brought civil securities and commodities fraud charges, against certain of FTX’s and its affiliates’ senior executives, including its former CEO. Around the same time, there were reports that approximately $300-600 million of digital assets were removed from FTX. On February 21, 2025, Bybit, a centralized platform for exchanging digital assets, announced that more than $1.4 billion in ether had been stolen from its platform. Hackers were able to manipulate Bybit's transfer process to authorize and complete the illicit transaction. The incident has resulted in renewed concerns over the security of digital asset platforms.
Reputational harm and related industry contagion effects may exacerbate negative events in the digital asset markets or digital platforms. Negative perception, a lack of stability and standardized regulation in the digital asset markets and the closure or temporary shutdown of digital asset platforms due to fraud, business failure, security breaches or government mandated regulation, and associated losses by customers, may reduce confidence in the Ethereum network and result in greater volatility or decreases in the prices of ether. Furthermore, the closure or temporary shutdown of a digital asset platform used in calculating the Index may result in a loss of confidence in the Fund’s ability to determine its NAV on a daily basis. The potential consequences of a digital asset platform’s failure could adversely affect the value of the Shares and may cause the Fund to lose substantial value.
The Index has a limited performance history, the Index price could fail to track the global ether price, a failure of the Index price could adversely affect the value of the Shares, and the Index’s methodology may be subject to change.
The Index Administrator has substantial discretion at any time to change the methodology used to calculate the Index and guidelines used to select platforms from which ether trading data is sourced for inclusion in the Index. The Index Administrator does not have any obligation to take the needs of the Fund, the Fund’s Shareholders, or anyone else into consideration in connection with such changes. There is no guarantee that the methodology currently used in calculating and balancing the Index will appropriately track the price of ether in the future.
The Index is based on various inputs which may include price data from various third-party exchanges and markets as well as supply data. The Index Administrator does not guarantee the validity of any of these inputs, which may be subject to technological error, manipulative activity, or fraudulent reporting from their initial source. The Index Administrator is not required to publicize or explain the changes to the Index, nor to alert the Fund to such changes. Shareholders in the Fund may not be aware of what inputs the Index Administrator uses to calculate the Index, when the Index Administrator changes the inputs, or when the Index Administrator changes the methodology to calculate the Index, even when material to the calculation of the Index. The Index could be calculated now or in the future in a way that adversely affects an investment in the Fund.
The methodology for determining the Index established by the Index Administrator is relatively new. Should any material change be made to the Index Rules that results in a material change to the composition of the Index and, as part of the Fund’s quarterly rebalancing and reconstitution process, results in a material change to the composition of the Fund the Fund will notify Shareholders of such material change in a prospectus supplement, in its periodic Exchange Act reports and/or on the Fund’s website. Certain assumptions included in the methodology may be flawed and may adversely impact the Index’s ability to accurately establish or maintain an index of top digital assets. The failure of one or more of the assumptions built into the Index Rules could have an adverse effect on the Fund and on the value of an investment in the Shares.
The CF Benchmarks Index was developed by the Index Administrator and has a limited performance history. Although the Index is based on materially the same methodology (except calculation time) as the Index Administrator’s Ether Reference Rate (“ETHUSD_RR”) which was first introduced in May 2018, the Index itself has only been in operation since February 2022. The Index price is a composite CF Benchmarks Index calculated using volume-weighted trading price data from various Constituent Platforms. The Index has only featured its current list of Constituent Platforms since July 2025. A longer history of actual performance through various economic and market conditions would provide greater and more reliable information for an investor to assess the Index’s performance. The Constituent Platforms chosen by the Index Administrator could also change over time. The Index Administrator may remove or add Constituent Platforms to the CF Benchmarks Index in the future at its discretion. For more information on the inclusion criteria for Constituent Platforms in the CF Benchmarks Index, see “Business of the Fund-Valuation of Ether; The CF Benchmarks Index” in the Prospectus.
Although the Index is intended to accurately capture the market price of ether, third parties may be able to purchase and sell ether on public or private markets not included among the Constituent Platforms, and such transactions may take place at prices materially higher or lower than the Index price. Moreover, there may be variances in the prices of ether on the various Constituent Platforms, including as a result of differences in fee structures or administrative procedures on different Constituent Platforms. While the Index provides a U.S. dollar-denominated composite for the price of ether based on, in the case of the CF Benchmarks Index, the volume-weighted price of ether on certain Constituent Platforms, at any given time, the prices on each such Constituent Platform or pricing source may not be equal to the value of an ether as represented by the Index. It is possible that the price of ether on the Constituent Platform could be materially higher or lower than the Index price. To the extent the Index price differs materially from the actual prices available on a Constituent Platform, or the global market price of ether, the price of the Shares may no longer track, whether temporarily or over time, the global market price of ether, which could adversely affect an investment in the Fund by reducing investors’ confidence in the Shares’ ability to track the market price of ether. To the extent such prices differ materially from the Index price, investors may lose confidence in the Shares’ ability to track the market price of ether, which could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
If the Index is not available, the Fund’s holdings may be fair valued by the Sponsor. To the extent the valuation determined by the Sponsor differs materially from the actual market price of ether, the price of the Shares may no longer track, whether temporarily or over time, the global market price of ether, which could adversely affect an investment in the Fund by reducing investors’ confidence in the Shares’ ability to track the global market price of ether. To the extent such prices differ materially from the market price for ether, investors may lose confidence in the Shares’ ability to track the market price of ether, which could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
Additionally, under certain circumstances as described in the Prospectus, the Sponsor may utilize the Secondary Index (defined below) as a secondary pricing source. The Secondary Index incepted on March 15, 2022 and has a limited performance history. A longer history of performance through various economic and market conditions would provide greater and more reliable information regarding the performance of the Secondary Index over time. Accordingly, the Secondary Index is subject generally to the same risks as described above and may not accurately capture the price of ether.
The Index price used to calculate the value of the Fund’s ether may be volatile, adversely affecting the value of the Shares.
The price of ether on public digital asset platforms has a limited history, and during this history, ether prices on the digital asset markets more generally, and on digital asset platforms individually, have been volatile and subject to influence by many factors, including operational interruptions. While the Index is designed to limit exposure to the interruption of individual digital asset platforms, the Index price, and the price of ether generally, remains subject to volatility experienced by digital asset platforms, and such volatility could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
Furthermore, because the number of liquid and credible digital asset platforms is limited, the Index will necessarily be composed of a limited number of digital asset platforms. If a digital asset platform were subjected to regulatory, volatility or other pricing issues, in the case of the CF Benchmarks Index, the Index Administrator would have limited ability to remove such digital asset platform from the Index, which could skew the price of Ether as represented by the Index. Trading on a limited number of digital asset platforms may result in less favorable prices and decreased liquidity of ether and, therefore, could have an adverse effect on the value of the Shares.
The Index Administrator could experience system failures or errors.
If the computers or other facilities of the Index Administrator, data providers and/or relevant constituent ether platforms malfunction for any reason, calculation and dissemination of the CF Benchmarks Index may be delayed. Errors in the CF Benchmarks Index data, the CF Benchmarks Index computations and/or construction may occur from time to time and may not be identified and/or corrected for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and the Shareholders. Any of the foregoing may lead to the errors in the CF Benchmarks Index, which may lead to a different investment outcome for the Fund and the Shareholders than would have been the case had such events not occurred.
The CF Benchmarks Index is used to determine the net asset value of the Fund and the NAV. Consequently, losses or costs associated with the CF Benchmarks Index’s errors or other risks described above will generally be borne by the Fund and the Shareholders and neither the Sponsor nor its affiliates or agents make any representations or warranties regarding the foregoing. If the CF Benchmarks Index is not available or the Sponsor in its sole discretion determines the CF Benchmarks Index is unreliable as the Index and therefore determines not to use the CF Benchmarks Index the Fund’s holdings may be fair valued by the Sponsor. See “Business of the Fund-Net Asset Value” in the Prospectus. To the extent the valuation determined by the Sponsor differs materially from the actual market price of ether, the price of the Shares may no longer track, whether temporarily or over time, the price of ether, which could adversely affect an investment in the Fund and the value of Shares by reducing investors’ confidence in the Shares’ ability to track the price of ether.
The Index price being used to determine the net asset value of the Fund may not be consistent with GAAP. To the extent that the Fund’s financial statements are determined using a different pricing source that is consistent with GAAP, the net asset value reported in the Fund’s periodic financial statements may differ, in some cases significantly, from the Fund’s net asset value determined using the Index pricing.
The Fund will determine the net asset value of the Fund on each Business Day based on the value of ether as reflected by the Index. The methodology used to calculate the Index price to value ether in determining the net asset value of the Fund may not be deemed consistent with GAAP. To the extent the methodology used to calculate the Index is deemed inconsistent with GAAP, the Fund will utilize an alternative GAAP-consistent pricing source for purposes of the Fund’s periodic financial statements. Creation and redemption of Creation Units, the Sponsor’s Fee and other expenses borne by the Fund will be determined using the Fund’s net asset value determined daily based on the Index. Such net asset value of the Fund determined using the Index Price may differ, in some cases significantly, from the net asset value reported in the Fund’s periodic financial statements.
Competition from central bank digital currencies (“CBDCs”) and emerging payments initiatives involving financial institutions could adversely affect the value of ether and other digital assets.
Central banks in various countries have introduced digital forms of legal tender (CBDCs). Whether or not they incorporate blockchain or similar technology, CBDCs, as legal tender in the issuing jurisdiction, could have an advantage in competing with, or replace, ether and other crypto assets as a medium of exchange or store of value. Central banks and other governmental entities have also announced cooperative initiatives and consortia with private sector entities, with the goal of leveraging blockchain and other technology to reduce friction in cross-border and interbank payments and settlement, and commercial banks and other financial institutions have also recently announced a number of initiatives of their own to incorporate new technologies, including blockchain and similar technologies, into their payments and settlement activities, which could compete with, or reduce the demand for, ether. As a result of any of the foregoing factors, the value of ether could decrease, which could adversely affect an investment in the Fund.
Prices of ether may be affected due to stablecoins (including Tether and US Dollar Coin (“USDC”)), the activities of stablecoin issuers and their regulatory treatment.
While the Fund does not invest in stablecoins, it may nonetheless be exposed to risks that stablecoins pose for the ether market and other digital asset markets. Stablecoins are digital assets designed to have a stable value over time as compared to typically volatile digital assets, and are typically marketed as being pegged to a fiat currency, such as the U.S. dollar, at a certain value. Although the prices of stablecoins are intended to be stable, their market value may fluctuate. This volatility has in the past impacted the price of ether. Stablecoins are a relatively new phenomenon, and it is impossible to know all of the risks that they could pose to participants in the ether market. Like CBDCs, stablecoins could compete with, or replace, ether and other digital assets as a medium of exchange or store of value. In addition, some have argued that some stablecoins, particularly Tether, are improperly issued without sufficient backing in a way that, when the stablecoin is used to pay for bitcoin, could cause artificial rather than genuine demand for bitcoin, artificially inflating the price of bitcoin, and if true, there is no assurance similar dynamics would not be at work in the market for ether. There have been reports that those associated with certain stablecoins may be involved in laundering money. On February 17, 2021 the New York Attorney General entered into an agreement with Tether’s operators, including Bitfinex, requiring them to cease any further trading activity with New York persons and pay $18.5 million in penalties for false and misleading statements made regarding the assets backing Tether. On October 15, 2021, the CFTC announced a settlement with Tether’s operators, Tether Holdings Limited, Tether Operations Limited, Tether Limited, and Tether International Limited, in which they agreed to pay $42.5 million in fines to settle charges that, among others, Tether’s claims that it maintained sufficient U.S. dollar reserves to back every Tether stablecoin in circulation with the “equivalent amount of corresponding fiat currency” held by Tether were untrue. Bitfinex also agreed to pay the CFTC a $1.5 billion fine to settle charges that Bitfinex offered off-exchange leveraged, margined, or financed transactions involving cryptocurrencies, including ether, with U.S. customers who were not eligible contract participants and accepted funds (including in the form of Tether stablecoins) and orders in connection with such illegal off-exchange transactions, triggering an obligation to register with the CFTC, which the CFTC order asserts it violated. The CFTC previously fined Bitfinex in 2016 on similar charges. In addition, a large amount of Tether is issued as ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network. If Tether were to no longer be issued or operating on the Ethereum network, there would be no need to use ether to pay the gas fees needed to record ERC-20 Tether transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, and a substantial source of demand for ether could be eliminated, which could cause the price of ether to decrease, affecting the value of the Shares.
USDC is a reserve-backed stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Financial that is commonly used as a method of payment in digital asset markets, including the ether market. While USDC is designed to maintain a stable value at 1 U.S. dollar at all times, on March 10, 2023, the value of USDC fell below $1.00 for multiple days after Circle Internet Financial disclosed that US$3.3 billion of the USDC reserves were held at Silicon Valley Bank, which had entered Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) receivership earlier that day. Stablecoins are reliant on the U.S. banking system and U.S. treasuries, and the failure of either to function normally could impede the function of stablecoins, and therefore could adversely affect the value of the Shares. Similar to Tether, a large amount of USDC is issued as ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum network. If USDC were to no longer be issued or operating on the Ethereum network, there would be no need to use ether to pay the gas fees needed to record ERC-20 USDC transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, and a substantial source of demand for ether could be eliminated, which could cause the price of ether to decrease, affecting the value of the Shares.
Given the foundational role that stablecoins play in global digital asset markets, their fundamental liquidity can have a dramatic impact on the broader digital asset market, including the market for ether. A significant portion of the digital asset market continues to depend on stablecoins such as Tether and USDC. As such, any disruption in the operation or perceived stability of these stablecoins such as a disorderly de-pegging event or a loss of market confidence resulting in a run on reserves could lead to substantial market volatility across digital assets more broadly.
Additional risks such as operational failures (e.g., technical issues that prevent settlement), concerns regarding the adequacy or transparency of reserve assets backing stablecoins, the use of unbacked or undercollateralized stablecoins in potentially manipulative trading practices and regulatory scrutiny of stablecoin issuers or intermediaries, including exchanges that facilitate stablecoin transactions, may also adversely affect market confidence and liquidity. Further, these risks are underscored by recent legislative developments. On July 18, 2025, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act of 2025 (“GENIUS Act”) was enacted, establishing a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The GENIUS Act will become effective on July 18, 2028. The GENIUS Act prohibits the issuance or use of payment stablecoins unless the issuer obtains a qualifying license and complies with a range of regulatory requirements, including reserve backing with liquid assets, redemption rights, governance standards, and operational transparency. The GENIUS Act also restricts the payment of interest on stablecoins and imposes oversight on both bank and nonbank issuers. The enactment of the GENIUS Act, or the removal or migration of prominent stablecoins from the Ethereum network, could reduce the willingness of market participants to engage in digital asset transactions that rely on stablecoins, diminish liquidity in the ether market, and adversely affect the price of ether. Any such developments could, in turn, materially and adversely impact the value of the Shares.
Competition from the emergence or growth of other digital assets or methods of investing in Ether could have a negative impact on the price of Ether and adversely affect the value of the Shares.
As of March 31, 2026, ether was the second largest digital asset by market capitalization of the approximately 16,000 alternative digital assets as tracked by CoinGecko.com. In addition, many consortiums and financial institutions are also researching and investing resources into private or permissioned smart contract platforms rather than open platforms like the Ethereum network. Competition from the emergence or growth of alternative digital assets and smart contract platforms, such as Solana, Avalanche, Tron, BNB Coin, Polkadot, or Cardano, among many others, could have a negative impact on the demand for, and price of, ether and thereby adversely affect the value of the Shares.
In addition, some digital asset networks, including the Ethereum network, may be the target of ill will from users of other digital asset networks. For example, in July 2016, the Ethereum network underwent a contentious hard fork that resulted in the creation of a new digital asset network called Ethereum Classic. As a result, some users of the Ethereum Classic network may harbor ill will toward the Ethereum network. These users may attempt to negatively impact the use or adoption of the Ethereum network. For additional information on the hard fork that resulted in the creation of Ethereum Classic, see “Overview of the Ethereum Industry - History of Ethereum -The DAO and Ethereum Classic” in the Prospectus.
Investors may invest in ether through means other than the Shares, including through direct investments in ether and other potential financial vehicles, possibly including securities backed by or linked to ether and digital asset financial vehicles similar to the Fund, or ether futures-based products. Market and financial conditions, and other conditions beyond the Sponsor’s control, may make it more attractive to invest in other financial vehicles or to invest in ether directly, which could limit the market for, and reduce the liquidity of, the Shares. In addition, to the extent digital asset financial vehicles other than the Fund tracking the price of ether are formed and represent a significant proportion of the demand for ether, large purchases or redemptions of the securities of these digital asset financial vehicles, or private funds holding ether, could negatively affect the Index, the Fund’s ether holdings, the price of the Shares and the net asset value of the Fund.
Competitive pressures may negatively affect the ability of the Fund to maintain substantial assets and achieve long-term commercial success.
The Fund and the Sponsor face significant competition with respect to the development and launch of competing investment products that could have a detrimental effect on the Fund’s ability to achieve scale. The Sponsor’s competitors may have greater financial, technical and human resources than the Sponsor. These competitors may also compete with the Sponsor in recruiting and retaining qualified personnel. Smaller or early stage companies may also prove to be effective competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. There are several competitor spot ether exchange-traded products available in the market and it is possible that the Fund could fail to retain acquired assets due to competition and/or market conditions. The Fund’s ability to attract assets could be impaired to the extent the Fund’s competitors have a lower expense ratio than the Fund.
In addition, the Fund competes with direct investments in ether, ether futures-based products, other digital assets and other potential financial vehicles, possibly including securities backed by or linked to digital assets and other investment vehicles that focus on other digital assets. Market and financial conditions, and other conditions beyond the Fund’s control, may make it more attractive to invest directly or in other vehicles, which could adversely affect the performance of the Fund.
The Fund may struggle to attract new investors given the substantial number of existing ether and other digital asset U.S. exchange-traded products in the market. Investors might prefer to allocate funds to one of the several spot ether U.S. exchange-traded products or spot bitcoin U.S. exchange-traded products already available, which collectively hold significant market share. The Fund will continue to face competition from direct investments in bitcoin, bitcoin spot and futures-based products, ether, ether spot and futures-based products, other crypto assets, and other potential financial instruments, including securities tied to or backed by crypto assets, as well as other investment vehicles focused on other crypto assets. Market conditions, financial factors, and other external circumstances could make these alternatives more attractive, potentially impacting the Fund’s performance. There can be no assurance that the Fund will grow to or maintain an economically viable size. There is no guarantee that the Sponsor will maintain a commercial advantage relative to competitors offering similar products. Whether or not the Fund and the Sponsor are successful in achieving the intended scale for the Fund may be impacted by a range of factors, such as the Fund’s fee structure, liquidity, or trading volume and spreads relative to those of competitive products.
Digital asset treasury companies may exacerbate volatility in digital asset markets.
In recent times, a number of companies engaged in businesses outside the digital assets industry have begun to hold their corporate treasuries in digital assets instead of in fiat currency (“digital asset treasury companies”). In some cases, these companies have raised funds through financing or securities offerings and applied the proceeds to purchase digital assets, including ether.
Digital asset treasury companies are a relatively new phenomenon and it is difficult to predict their long-term sustainability, and therefore their impact to digital asset markets, and to the Fund. Digital asset treasury companies may increase procyclical dynamics in the market because they may purchase digital assets, such as ether, when prices are rising and they may in certain circumstances be forced to sell such assets when prices are decreasing, potentially causing downward pressure on ether prices in a falling market (causing prices to fall faster than they otherwise would). Digital asset treasury companies could cause greater volatility in digital asset markets, including markets for ether. Negative events or sentiment surrounding digital asset treasury companies could affect the market for ether. The increase of consolidated positions in ether held by digital asset treasury companies could affect the operation of the Ethereum blockchain. One digital asset treasury company, BitMine Immersion Technology Inc. ("BitMine Immersion"), held over 4% of ether’s supply as of May 7, 2026 (source: CoinGecko.com). If BitMine Immersion or another similarly situated digital asset treasury company begins to operate validators, it could gain influence in how the Ethereum blockchain operates. The foregoing or similar events involving digital asset treasury companies could adversely affect holders of Shares in the Fund.
Operational cost may exceed the award for validating transaction, and increased transaction fees may adversely affect the usage of the Ethereum network.
If transaction confirmation fees become too high, the marketplace may be reluctant to use ether. This may result in decreased usage and limit expansion of the Ethereum network in the retail, commercial and payments space, adversely impacting investment in the Fund. Conversely, if the reward for validators or the value of the transaction fees is insufficient to motivate validators, they may cease to validate transactions. Ultimately, if the awards of new ether costs of validating transactions grow disproportionately, validators may operate at a loss, transition to other networks, or cease operations altogether. Each of these outcomes could, in turn, slow transaction validation and usage, which could have a negative impact on the Ethereum network and could adversely affect the value of the ether held by the Fund.
As a result of Ethereum’s fee burning mechanism, the incentives for validators to validate transactions with higher gas fees are reduced, since those validators would not receive those gas fees. An acute cessation of validator operations would reduce the collective processing power on the Ethereum network, which would adversely affect the transaction verification process by temporarily decreasing the speed at which blocks are added to the blockchain and make the blockchain more vulnerable to a malicious actor obtaining control in excess of 50% of the processing power on the blockchain. Reductions in processing power could result in material, though temporary, delays in transaction confirmation time. Any reduction in confidence in the transaction verification process or may adversely impact the value of Shares of the Fund or the ability of the Sponsor to operate.
The SEC has approved generic listing standards for commodity-based trust shares and may approve other applications under Rule 19b-4 of the Exchange Act to list competing digital asset backed investment vehicles as exchange-traded products, which could reduce demand for, and the price of, ether and adversely impact the value of the Shares.
The SEC has approved generic listing standards for commodity-based trust shares holding digital assets. To the extent competing digital asset exchange-traded products, other than those which hold ether, come to represent a significant proportion of the demand for digital assets generally, demand for, and the price of, ether could be reduced. Such reduced demand could in turn negatively affect the value of the Shares of the Fund. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to achieve its intended competitive positioning, which could adversely affect the performance of the Fund and the value of the Shares.
If regulators or public utilities take actions that restrict or otherwise impact validator activities, such actions could result in decreased security of a digital asset network, including the Ethereum network, which could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
Concerns have been raised about the electricity required to secure and maintain digital asset networks. Although measuring the electricity consumed by the process of securing and maintaining digital asset networks is difficult because these operations are performed by various machines with varying levels of efficiency, the process consumes a significant amount of energy. Driven by concerns around energy consumption and the impact on public utility companies, various states and cities have implemented, or are considering implementing, moratoriums on mining activity in their jurisdictions.
Ethereum uses a system called proof-of-stake to validate transaction information. Anyone that owns the specific proof-of-stake digital asset can participate in staking, subject to certain minimum amounts as determined by the applicable proof-of-stake digital asset. Generally, the higher the amount staked by any actor, the higher the chances of being chosen by the applicable blockchain to act as validator and reaping validator rewards; in other words, the higher the stake, the higher the chances of earning a staking reward. This has led to the creation of staking pools, where third parties combine smaller stakes into large pools, which leads to higher returns for owners of small stakes, in return for a fee collected by the third parties.
Other digital asset networks may use a system called proof-of-work to validate transaction information. It’s called proof-of-work because solving the encrypted hash takes time and energy, which acts as proof that work was done. Proof of work requires users to mine or complete complex computational puzzles before submitting new transactions to the network.
Proof-of-stake digital assets allow people to pledge or lock up some of their holdings as a way of vouching for the accuracy of newly added information. Meanwhile, proof-of-work digital assets require people to solve complex cryptographic puzzles — which can incur significant energy costs — before they’re allowed to propose a new block. This expenditure of time, computing power and energy is intended to make the cost of fraud higher than the potential rewards of a dishonest action.
The operations of digital asset networks can consume significant amounts of electricity, which may have a negative environmental impact and give rise to public opinion against allowing, or government regulations restricting, the use of electricity for mining operations, in the case of proof-of-work networks. Additionally, miners on proof-of-work networks may be forced to cease operations during an electricity shortage or power outage, or if electricity prices increase where the mining activities are performed.
The operations of the Ethereum network and other digital asset networks may also consume significant amounts of energy, even though the Ethereum blockchain is generally considered to consume significantly less energy than other digital asset networks, such as the Bitcoin blockchain, due to its of proof-of-stake, rather than proof-of-work, transaction validation mechanism. Further, in addition to the direct energy costs of performing calculations on any given digital asset network, there are indirect costs that impact a network’s total energy consumption, including the costs of cooling the machines that perform these calculations.
Notwithstanding Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, if regulators or public utilities take action that restricts or otherwise impacts mining activities generally, such actions could result in decreased security of a digital asset network, including the Ethereum network, and consequently adversely impact the value of the Shares. This could adversely affect the price of ether, or the operation of the Ethereum network, and accordingly decrease the value of the Shares, by creating negative sentiment around digital assets generally.
Risk Factors Related to the Fund and the Shares
The Fund may be negatively impacted by the effects of the spread of illnesses or other public health emergencies on the global economy and the markets and service providers relevant to the performance of the Fund.
A public health emergency could adversely affect the economics of many nations and could have serious negative effects on social, economic and financial systems, including significant uncertainty and volatility in the digital asset markets. For example, digital asset prices, including ether decreased significantly in the first quarter of 2020 amidst broader market declines as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Future public health emergencies could result in an increase of the costs of the Fund and affect liquidity in the digital asset market, as well as the correlation between the price of the Shares and the net asset value of the Fund, any of which could adversely affect the value of the Shares. In addition, future public health emergencies could impair the information technology and other operational systems upon which the Fund’s service providers, including the Sponsor, the Trustee, Administrator, Authorized Participants, the Prime Broker and the Custodians, rely, and could otherwise disrupt the ability of employees of the Fund’s service providers to perform essential tasks on behalf of the Fund. Governmental and quasi-governmental authorities and regulators throughout the world have at times responded to major economic disruptions with a variety of fiscal and monetary policy changes, including, but not limited to, direct capital infusions into companies and other issuers, new monetary tools and lower interest rates. An unexpected or sudden reversal of these policies, or the ineffectiveness of these policies, is likely to increase volatility in the digital asset markets, which could adversely affect the value of ether and the price of the Shares.
Further, future public health emergencies could also interfere with the operations of the Index or the Index Administrator, which is used to value the ether held by the Fund and calculate the net asset value of the Fund. Pandemics or other public health emergencies could also cause the closure of futures exchanges, which could eliminate the ability of Authorized Participants to hedge purchases of Creation Units, increasing trading costs of Shares and resulting in a sustained premium or discount in the Shares. Each of these outcomes would negatively impact the Fund.
The Fund will rely on the information and technology systems of the Custodians, Administrator, Trustee, Sponsor, Authorized Participants, Ether Trading Counterparties, listing exchange, and the Fund’s other service providers and counterparties (referred to herein as the “Service Providers”), each of which could be directly or indirectly adversely affected by information systems interruptions, cybersecurity incidents or other disruptions, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on the Fund.
The Fund and the Service Providers are susceptible to operational, information security and related cybersecurity risks both directly and through their own service providers. Cyber incidents can result from deliberate attacks or unintentional events. They include, but are not limited to, gaining unauthorized access to systems, corrupting or destroying data, and causing operational disruption. Geopolitical tensions may increase the scale and sophistication of deliberate attacks, particularly those from nation-states or from entities with nation-state backing.
Cybersecurity incidents may cause disruptions and impact business operations. They may result in any of the following: financial losses (including loss or theft of Fund assets), interference with the Fund’s ability to calculate its NAV, disclosure of confidential information, impediments to trading, submission of erroneous trades or erroneous creation or redemption orders or other price movements, the inability of the Fund or the Service Providers to transact business, violations of applicable privacy and other laws, regulatory fines, penalties, reputational damage, reimbursement or other compensation costs, and other legal and compliance costs. In addition, cyber incidents may render records of Fund assets and transactions, Shareholder ownership of the Shares, and other data integral to the functioning of the Fund inaccessible, inaccurate or incomplete. The Fund may incur substantial costs in order to resolve or prevent cyber incidents.
The amount of the Fund’s assets represented by each Share will decline over time as the Fund pays the Sponsor’s Fee and additional expenses borne by the Fund, and as a result, the value of the Shares may decrease over time.
The amount of ether represented by each Share will decrease over the life of the Fund due to the sales of ether necessary to pay the Sponsor’s Fee and other Fund expenses. Without increases in the price of ether sufficient to compensate for that decrease, the price of the Shares will also decline and you will lose money on your investment in Shares.
Although the Sponsor has agreed to assume all organizational and certain ordinary administrative and marketing expenses incurred by the Fund, not all Fund expenses have been assumed by the Sponsor. For example, any taxes and other governmental charges that may be imposed on the Fund’s property will not be paid by the Sponsor. As part of its agreement to assume some of the Fund’s ordinary administrative expenses, the Sponsor has agreed to pay ordinary legal fees and expenses of the Fund not in excess of $500,000 per annum. Any legal fees and expenses in excess of the amount required under the Sponsor Agreement will be the responsibility of the Fund.
Because the Fund does not have any income, it needs to sell ether to cover the Sponsor’s Fee and expenses not assumed by the Sponsor. The Fund may also be subject to other liabilities (for example, as a result of litigation) that have also not been assumed by the Sponsor. The only source of funds to cover those liabilities will be sales of ether held by the Fund. Even if there are no expenses other than those assumed by the Sponsor, and there are no other liabilities of the Fund, the Sponsor will still need to sell ether to pay the Sponsor’s Fee. The result of these sales is a decrease in the amount of ether represented by each Share. Creation orders for shares of the Fund do not reverse this trend.
A decrease in the amount of ether represented by each Share results in a decrease in its price even if the price of ether has not changed. To retain the Share’s original price, the price of ether has to increase. Without that increase, the lesser amount of ether represented by the Share will have a correspondingly lower price. If these increases do not occur, or are not sufficient to counter the lesser amount of ether represented by each Share, you will sustain losses on your investment in Shares.
An increase in the Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, or the existence of unexpected liabilities affecting the Fund, will force the Sponsor to sell larger amounts of ether, and will result in a more rapid decrease of the amount of ether represented by each Share and a corresponding decrease in its value.
The Fund is a passive investment vehicle that does not seek to generate returns beyond tracking the price of ether. The Fund is not actively managed, does not seek to generate excess returns beyond tracking the price of ether and will be adversely affected by a general decline in the price of ether.
The Fund is a passive investment vehicle that does not seek to generate returns beyond the price of ether. The Sponsor does not actively manage the ether held by the Fund. This means that the Sponsor does not speculatively sell ether at times when its price is high, or speculatively acquire ether at low prices in the expectation of future price increases. The Fund will not utilize leverage, derivatives or any similar instruments or transactions in seeking to meet its investment objective. Any losses sustained by the Fund will adversely affect the value of your Shares.
An investment in the Shares deviates from a direct investment in ether.
An investment in the Shares may deviate from ether prices in spot markets and is distinct from a direct investment in ether. The market value of the Shares may not have a direct relationship with the prevailing price of ether, and changes in the prevailing price of ether similarly will not necessarily result in a comparable change in the market value of the Shares. The performance of the Fund will not reflect the specific return an investor would realize if the investor actually held or purchased ether directly. The differences in performance may be due to factors such as fees, transaction costs, operating hours of the Exchange. Investors will also forgo certain rights conferred by owning ether directly, such as the right to claim airdrops, or to participate in staking activities.
The value of the Shares may be influenced by a variety of factors unrelated to the value of ether.
The value of the Shares may be influenced by a variety of factors unrelated to the price of ether and the digital asset platforms included in the Index that may have an adverse effect on the value of the Shares. These factors include the following factors:
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unanticipated problems or issues with respect to the mechanics of the Fund’s operations and the trading of the Shares may arise, including due to the complexity of the mechanisms and processes governing the offering, creation and redemptions of the Shares and storage of ether;
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the Fund could experience difficulties in operating and maintaining its technical infrastructure, including in connection with expansions or updates to such infrastructure, which are likely to be complex and could lead to unanticipated delays, unforeseen expenses and security vulnerabilities;
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the Fund could experience unforeseen issues relating to the performance and effectiveness of the security procedures used to protect the Fund’s account with the Ether Custodian, or the security procedures may not protect against all errors, software flaws or other vulnerabilities in the Fund’s technical infrastructure, which could result in theft, loss or damage of its assets; or
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service providers may default on or fail to perform their obligations or deliver services under their contractual agreements with the Fund, or decide to terminate their relationships with the Fund, for a variety of reasons, which could affect the Fund’s ability to operate.
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if the Ethereum network introduces privacy enhancing features in the future, service providers may decide to terminate their relationships with the Fund due to concerns that the introduction of privacy enhancing features to the Ethereum network may increase the potential for ether to be used to facilitate crime, exposing such service providers to potential reputational harm.
Any of these factors could affect the value of the Shares, either directly or indirectly through their effect on the Fund’s assets.
The liquidity of the Shares may also be affected by the withdrawal from participation of Authorized Participants or Ether Trading Counterparties.
In the event that one or more Authorized Participants or Ether Trading Counterparties withdraw from or cease participation in creation and redemption activity for any reason, the liquidity of the Shares will likely decrease, which could adversely affect the market price of the Shares and result in your incurring a loss on your investment in Shares.
The Fund's and the Authorized Participants' ability to buy or sell ether may be adversely affected by limited trading volume, lack of a market maker, or legal restrictions. It is also possible that an ether spot market or governmental authority may suspend or restrict trading in ether altogether. Therefore, it may not always be possible to execute a buy or sell order at the desired price or to liquidate an open position due to market conditions on spot markets, regulatory issues affecting ether or other issues affecting counterparties. Ether is a relatively new asset with a very limited trading history. Therefore, the markets for ether may be less liquid and more volatile than other markets for more established products.
The Fund and the Shares may be negatively affected by Authorized Participant Concentration.
Only Authorized Participants may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants and the Fund's Authorized Participants serve in the same capacity for various competitor products. Authorized Participants are not obligated to make a market in the Fund's Shares or submit purchase and redemption orders for Creation Units. Authorized Participants that act in the same capacity for several competing products may be incentivized to prioritize making a market in a competing product's shares over the Fund's Shares, which may reduce liquidity in the Fund's Shares or otherwise negatively affect the Fund. In addition, the Fund may also fail to attract adequate liquidity in the secondary market due to such competition, resulting in a sub-standard number of Authorized Participants willing to make a market in the Shares, which in turn could result in a significant premium or discount in the Shares for extended periods and the Fund failure to reflect the performance of the price of ether. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able or willing to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units, the Fund's Shares may trade at a discount to NAV and face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile market conditions. In addition, due to the novelty of the Fund's product structure and volatility in the ether markets, risks relating to a limited number of Authorized Participants are heightened.
Certain shareholders may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund's Shares.
In addition, a third-party investor, the Sponsor (or an affiliate of the Sponsor), an Authorized Participant, a lead market maker or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund's operations or to facilitate the Fund's achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the Cboe BZX Exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the Shares.
The Fund is an “emerging growth company” and it cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make the Shares less attractive to investors.
The Fund is an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as the Fund continues to be an emerging growth company it may choose to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to emerging growth companies, which include, among other things:
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exemption from the auditor attestation requirements under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;
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reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in the Fund’s periodic reports and audited financial statements in this report;
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exemptions from the requirements of holding advisory “say-on-pay” votes on executive compensation and shareholder advisory votes on “golden parachute” compensation; and
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exemption from any rules requiring mandatory audit firm rotation and auditor discussion and analysis and, unless otherwise determined by the SEC, any new audit rules adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
The Fund could be an emerging growth company until the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary after its initial public offering, or until the earliest of (1) the last day of the fiscal year in which it has annual gross revenue of $1.235 billion or more, (2) the date on which it has, during the previous three year period, issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt or (3) the date on which it is deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the federal securities laws. The Fund will qualify as a large accelerated filer as of the first day of the first fiscal year after it has (A) more than $700 million in outstanding equity held by nonaffiliates (subject to certain definitional exemptions based on revenue), (B) been public for at least 12 months and (C) filed at least one annual report on Form 10-K.
Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies are also permitted to elect to delay adoption of new or revised accounting standards until companies that are not subject to periodic reporting obligations are required to comply, if such accounting standards apply to non-reporting companies.
The Fund cannot predict if investors will find an investment in the Fund less attractive if it relies on these exemptions.
The Fund is subject to certain risks due to its concentration in only ether.
The Fund is subject to risks due to its concentration of investments in only ether. Unlike other funds that may invest in a diversified portfolio of assets, the Fund’s investment strategy is concentrated within a single asset class. This concentration maximizes the Fund’s exposure to a variety of market risks associated with ether. By concentrating its investment strategy solely in ether, any losses stemming from a decrease in the value of ether can be expected to reduce the value of an interest in the Fund and will not be offset by other gains if the Fund were to invest in a diversified portfolio of assets.
The lack of an active trading market for the Shares may result in losses on your investment at the time of disposition of your Shares.
Although Shares are listed for trading on the Cboe BZX Exchange, you should not assume that an active trading market for the Shares will be maintained. If you need to sell your Shares at a time when no active market for them exists, such lack of an active market will most likely adversely affect the price you receive for your Shares (assuming you are able to sell them).
The lack of ability to facilitate in-kind creations and redemptions of Shares could have adverse consequences for the Fund.
The Fund currently accepts only cash purchase orders and redemption orders, which means that an Authorized Participant will deliver only cash to create Shares and will receive only cash when redeeming Shares and the Fund will choose, in its sole discretion, to enter into a transaction with an Ether Trading Counterparty or the Prime Broker to buy or sell ether in exchange for cash.
Authorized Participants must be registered broker-dealers. Registered broker-dealers are subject to various requirements of the federal securities laws and rules, including financial responsibility rules such as the customer protection rule, the net capital rule and recordkeeping requirements. On May 15, 2025, the Division of Trading and Markets of the SEC and the Office of General Counsel of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) stated that broker-dealers are permitted to facilitate in-kind creations and redemptions in connection with spot crypto exchange-traded products; however, there has yet to be definitive regulatory guidance on and the specific details of how registered broker-dealers can comply with SEC rules with regard to transacting in or holding spot ether. Until further regulatory clarity emerges regarding whether registered broker-dealers can hold and deal in ether under such rules, there is a risk that registered broker-dealers participating in the in-kind creation or redemption of Shares for ether may be unable to demonstrate compliance with such requirements. While compliance with rules such as the customer protection rule, the net capital rule and recordkeeping requirements would be the broker-dealer’s responsibility, a national securities exchange is required to enforce compliance by its member broker-dealers with applicable federal securities law and rules.
To the knowledge of the Sponsor, exchange-traded products for all spot-market commodities other than digital assets, such as gold and silver, employ in-kind creations and redemptions with the underlying asset. The Sponsor believes that it is generally more efficient, and therefore less costly, for spot commodity exchange-traded products to utilize in-kind orders rather than cash orders, because there are fewer steps in the process and therefore there is less operational risk involved when an authorized participant can manage the buying and selling of the underlying asset itself, rather than depend on an unaffiliated party such as the issuer or sponsor of the exchange-traded product. As such, a spot commodity exchange-traded product that only employs cash creations and redemptions and does not permit in- kind creations and redemptions is a relatively novel product, and could be impacted by any resulting operational inefficiencies.
Even with the recent approval of in-kind creations and redemptions, the Fund’s inability to facilitate in-kind creations and redemptions could result in the exchange-traded product arbitrage mechanism failing to function as efficiently as it otherwise would, leading to the potential for the Shares to trade at premiums or discounts to the NAV, and such premiums or discounts could be substantial. See “-The Fund’s use of cash creations and redemptions, in contrast to other types of exchange-traded products that transact in-kind, may adversely affect the arbitrage transactions by Authorized Participants intended to keep the price of the Shares closely linked to the price of ether and, as a result, the price of the Shares may fall or otherwise diverge from NAV” in the Prospectus. Furthermore, if cash creations or redemptions are unavailable, either due to the Sponsor’s decision to reject or suspend such orders, the unavailability of Ether Trading Counterparties or the Prime Broker’s services, or otherwise, it will not be possible for Authorized Participants to redeem or create Shares, in which case the arbitrage mechanism would be unavailable. This could result in impaired liquidity for the Shares, wider bid/ask spreads in secondary trading of the Shares and greater costs to investors and other market participants. In addition, the Fund’s inability to facilitate in-kind creations and redemptions, and resulting reliance on cash creations and redemptions, could cause the Sponsor to halt or suspend the creation or redemption of Shares during times of market volatility or turmoil, among other consequences.
Any of these factors could adversely affect the performance of the Fund and the value of the Shares.
If the process of creation and redemption of Creation Units encounters any unanticipated difficulties, the possibility for arbitrage transactions by Authorized Participants intended to keep the price of the Shares closely linked to the price of ether may not exist and, as a result, the price of the Shares may fall or otherwise diverge from NAV.
If the processes of creation and redemption of Shares (which depend on timely transfers of ether to and by the Ether Custodian) encounter any unanticipated difficulties due to, for example, the price volatility of ether, the insolvency, business failure or interruption, default, failure to perform, security breach, or other problems affecting the Prime Broker or Ether Custodian, the change from the originally contemplated in-kind creations and redemptions to cash creations and redemptions, the closing of ether trading platforms due to fraud, failures, security breaches or otherwise, or network outages or congestion, spikes in transaction fees demanded by validators, or other problems or disruptions affecting the Ethereum network, then potential market participants, such as the Authorized Participants and their customers, who would otherwise be willing to purchase or redeem Creation Units to take advantage of any arbitrage opportunity arising from discrepancies between the price of the Shares and the price of the underlying ether may not take the risk that, as a result of those difficulties, they may not be able to realize the profit they expect. In certain such cases, as further described in “Creations and Redemptions," the Sponsor may, suspend the process of creation and redemption of Creation Units. During such times, trading spreads, and the resulting premium or discount, on Shares may widen. Alternatively, in the case of a network outage or other problems affecting the Ethereum network, the processing of transactions on the Ethereum network may be disrupted, which in turn may impede processing of ether transactions on behalf of the Fund by the Prime Broker or other executing broker/agent, which in turn could affect the creation or redemption of Creation Units. If this is the case, the liquidity of the Shares may decline and the price of the Shares may fluctuate independently of the price of ether and may fall or otherwise diverge from NAV. Furthermore, in the event that the market for ether should become relatively illiquid and thereby materially restrict opportunities for arbitraging, the price of Shares may diverge from the value of ether.
To the extent applicable, the Fund’s use of cash creations and redemptions, in contrast to other types of exchange-traded products that transact in-kind, may adversely affect the arbitrage transactions by Authorized Participants intended to keep the price of the Shares closely linked to the price of ether and, as a result, the price of the Shares may fall or otherwise diverge from NAV.
The Fund’s use of cash creations and redemptions, as opposed to in-kind creations and redemptions, could cause inefficiencies or delays in trade execution due to potential operational issues arising from implementing a cash creation and redemption model, which involves greater operational steps (and therefore execution risk) than the originally contemplated in-kind creation and redemption model, or the potential unavailability or exhaustion of the Trade Credits, which the Fund would not be able to use with in-kind creations and redemptions. Such delays could cause the execution price associated with such trades to materially deviate from the Index price used to determine the NAV. Even though the Authorized Participant is responsible for the dollar cost of such difference in prices, pursuant to the terms of the Authorized Participant Agreement, Authorized Participants could default on their obligations to the Fund. In addition, potential execution risks and costs could lead to Authorized Participants who would otherwise be willing to purchase or redeem Creation Units to benefit from any arbitrage opportunity arising from discrepancies between the price of the Shares and the price of the Fund’s underlying ether, to elect to not participate in the Fund’s Share creation and redemption processes. This could adversely affect the efficiency of the arbitrage mechanism intended to keep the price of the Shares closely linked to the price of ether, and as a result, the price of the Shares may fall or otherwise diverge from NAV and/or cause bid-ask spreads to widen. If the arbitrage mechanism is not effective, purchases or sales of Shares on the secondary market could occur at a premium or discount to NAV, which could harm Shareholders by causing them buy Shares at a price higher than the value of the underlying ether held by the Fund or sell Shares at a price lower than the value of the underlying ether held by the Fund, causing Shareholders to suffer losses.
As an owner of Shares, you will not have the rights normally associated with ownership of other types of shares.
Shares are not entitled to the same rights as shares issued by a corporation. By acquiring Shares, you are not acquiring the right to elect directors, to receive dividends, to vote on certain matters regarding the issuer of your Shares or to take other actions normally associated with the ownership of shares. You will only have the limited rights described under “Description of the Shares and the Trust” in the Prospectus.
The Sponsor may amend the Declaration of Trust without the consent of the Shareholders.
The Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, determine to amend the Declaration of Trust, including to increase the Sponsor’s Fee, and may do so without Shareholder consent. The Sponsor shall determine the contents and manner of delivery of any notice of an amendment to the Declaration of Trust. If an amendment imposes new fees and charges or increases existing fees or charges, including the Sponsor’s Fee (except for taxes and other governmental charges, registration fees or other such expenses), or prejudices a substantial right of Shareholders, advance notice of the change will be provided in accordance with applicable provisions of the Declaration of Trust, and will be disclosed via a prospectus supplement. Shareholders that are not registered owners (which most shareholders will not be) may not receive specific notice of a fee increase other than through an amendment to the prospectus. Moreover, at the time an amendment becomes effective, by continuing to hold Shares, Shareholders are deemed to agree to the amendment and to be bound by the Declaration of Trust as amended without specific agreement to such increase (other than through the “negative consent” procedure described above). Shareholders will be notified in a prospectus supplement, in the Fund’s periodic reports, and/ or on the Sponsor’s website for the Fund of a material amendment to the Declaration of Trust.
Shareholders do not have the protections associated with ownership of shares in an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act or the protections afforded by the CEA.
The Investment Company Act is designed to protect investors by preventing insiders from managing investment companies to their benefit and to the detriment of public investors, such as: the issuance of securities having inequitable or discriminatory provisions; the management of investment companies by irresponsible persons; the use of unsound or misleading methods of computing earnings and asset value; changes in the character of investment companies without the consent of investors; and investment companies from engaging in excessive leveraging. To accomplish these ends, the Investment Company Act requires the safekeeping and proper valuation of fund assets, restricts greatly transactions with affiliates, limits leveraging, and imposes governance requirements as a check on fund management.
The Trust is not a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act, and the Sponsor believes that the Trust is not required to register under such act. Consequently, Shareholders do not have the regulatory protections provided to investors in investment companies.
The Fund will not hold or trade in commodity interests regulated by the CEA, as administered by the CFTC. Furthermore, the Sponsor believes that the Fund is not a commodity pool for purposes of the CEA, and that neither the Sponsor nor the Trustee is subject to regulation by the CFTC as a commodity pool operator or a commodity trading adviser in connection with the operation of the Fund. Consequently, Shareholders will not have the regulatory protections provided to investors in CEA-regulated instruments or commodity pools.
As the Sponsor and its management have limited history of operating investment vehicles like the Fund, their experience may be inadequate or unsuitable to manage the affairs of the Fund.
The Sponsor has a limited track record in operating passive investment vehicles such as the Fund that holds crypto assets. This limited experience poses several potential risks to the effective management and operation of the Fund. Crypto assets, such as ether, are known for their high volatility, unique technical, legal and regulatory challenges, and rapidly evolving market dynamics. The Sponsor’s limited experience in this specific field may not fully equip them to navigate these complexities effectively, which could adversely affect the operations of the Fund.
The past performance of other investment vehicles sponsored by the Sponsor or managed by its affiliates are no indication of the Sponsor’s ability to successfully manage an investment vehicle such as the Fund. The unique nature of cryptoassets makes past performance an unreliable indicator of future success in this area. The crypto asset market is technology-driven and requires a deep understanding of the underlying blockchain technology and security considerations. The Sponsor’s limited experience may not fully encompass the technical expertise required to mitigate risks such as cyber threats, technological failures, or operational errors related to crypto asset transactions and custody.
Should the Sponsor’s experience prove inadequate or unsuitable for managing a crypto asset-based investment vehicle like the Fund, it could result in suboptimal decision-making, increased operational risks, and potential legal or regulatory non-compliance. These factors could adversely affect the Fund’s operations, leading to potential losses for investors or a decrease in the Fund’s overall value.
Furthermore, the Sponsor is currently engaged in the management of other investment vehicles which could divert their attention and resources. If the Sponsor were to experience difficulties in the management of such other investment vehicles that damaged the Sponsor or its reputation, it could have an adverse impact on the Sponsor’s ability to continue to serve as Sponsor for the Fund.
Security threats to the Fund’s account at the Ether Custodian could result in the halting of Fund operations and a loss of Fund assets or damage to the reputation of the Fund, each of which could result in a reduction in the value of the Shares.
Security breaches, computer malware and computer hacking attacks have been a prevalent concern in relation to digital assets. The Sponsor believes that the Fund’s ether held in the Fund’s account at the Ether Custodian or Trading Balance held with the Prime Broker will be an appealing target to hackers or malware distributors seeking to destroy, damage or steal the Fund’s ether and will only become more appealing as the Fund’s assets grow. To the extent that the Fund, the Sponsor or the Ether Custodian or Prime Broker is unable to identify and mitigate or stop new security threats or otherwise adapt to technological changes in the digital asset industry, the Fund’s ether may be subject to theft, loss, destruction or other attack.
The Sponsor believes that the security procedures in place for the Fund, including but not limited to, offline storage, or cold storage, multiple encrypted private key “shards”, and other measures, are reasonably designed to safeguard the Fund’s ether. Nevertheless, the security procedures cannot guarantee the prevention of any loss due to a security breach, software defect or act of God that may be borne by the Fund and the security procedures may not protect against all errors, software flaws or other vulnerabilities in the Fund’s technical infrastructure, which could result in theft, loss or damage of its assets. The Sponsor does not control the Ether Custodian’s or Prime Broker’s operations or their implementation of such security procedures and there can be no assurance that such security procedures will actually work as designed or prove to be successful in safeguarding the Fund’s assets against all possible sources of theft, loss or damage. Assets not held in cold storage, such as assets held in a trading account, may be more vulnerable to security breach, hacking or loss than assets held in cold storage. Furthermore, assets held in a trading account, including the Fund’s Trading Balance (as defined below) at the Prime Broker, are held on an omnibus, rather than segregated basis, which creates greater risk of loss. Even though ether is only moved into the Trading Balance in connection with and to the extent of purchases and sales of ether by the Fund and such ether is swept from the Fund’s Trading Balance to the Fund’s Vault Balance daily pursuant to a regular end-of-day sweep process, there are no policies that would limit the amount of ether that can be held temporarily in the Trading Balance maintained by the Prime Broker. This could create greater risk of loss of the Fund’s ether, which would cause Shareholders to suffer losses.
The security procedures and operational infrastructure may be breached due to the actions of outside parties, error or malfeasance of an employee of the Sponsor, the Ether Custodian, or otherwise, and, as a result, an unauthorized party may obtain access to the Fund’s account at the Ether Custodian, the relevant private keys (and therefore ether) or other data or property of the Fund. Additionally, outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees of the Sponsor or the Ether Custodian to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to the Fund’s infrastructure. As the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently, or may be designed to remain dormant until a predetermined event and often are not recognized until launched against a target, the Sponsor and the Ether Custodian may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures.
An actual or perceived breach of the Fund’s account at the Ether Custodian could harm the Fund’s operations, result in partial or total loss of the Fund’s assets, resulting in a reduction in the value of the Shares. The Fund may also cease operations, the occurrence of which could similarly result in a reduction in the value of the Shares.
Ether transactions are irrevocable and stolen or incorrectly transferred ether may be irretrievable. As a result, any incorrectly executed ether transactions could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
Ether transactions are typically not reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the transaction. Once a transaction has been verified and recorded in a block that is added to the Ethereum blockchain, an incorrect transfer or theft of ether generally will not be reversible and the Fund may not be capable of seeking compensation for any such transfer or theft. Although the Fund’s transfers of ether will regularly be made to or from the Fund’s account at the Ether Custodian, it is possible that, through computer or human error, or through theft or criminal action, the Fund’s ether could be transferred from the Fund’s account at the Ether Custodian in incorrect amounts or to unauthorized third parties, or to uncontrolled accounts.
Such events have occurred in connection with digital assets in the past. For example, in September 2014, the Chinese digital asset platform Huobi announced that it had sent approximately 900 bitcoins and 8,000 Litecoins (worth approximately $400,000 at the prevailing market prices at the time) to the wrong customers. To the extent that the Fund is unable to seek a corrective transaction with such third party or is incapable of identifying the third party which has received the Fund’s ether through error or theft, the Fund will be unable to revert or otherwise recover incorrectly transferred ether. The Fund will also be unable to convert or recover its ether transferred to uncontrolled accounts. To the extent that the Fund is unable to seek redress for such error or theft, such loss could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
If the Custodian Agreement, Prime Broker Agreement, an Authorized Participant Agreement or Ether Trading Counterparty Agreement is terminated or the Ether Custodian, Prime Broker, an Authorized Participant or an Ether Trading Counterparty fails to provide services as required, the Sponsor may need to find and appoint a replacement custodian, prime broker, authorized participant or ether trading counterparty, which could pose a challenge to the safekeeping of the Fund’s ether, the Fund’s ability to create and redeem shares and the Fund’s ability to continue to operate may be adversely affected.
The Fund is dependent on the Ether Custodian, which is Coinbase Custody, and the Prime Broker, Coinbase Inc. to operate. Coinbase Custody performs essential functions in terms of safekeeping the Fund’s ether in the Vault Balance, and its affiliate, Coinbase Inc., in its capacity as Prime Broker, facilitates the buying and selling or settlement of ether by the Fund in connection with cash creations and redemptions between the Fund and the Authorized Participants, the selling of ether, including to pay the Sponsor’s Fee and any other Fund expenses, to the extent applicable, and in extraordinary circumstances, to liquidate the Fund’s ether. If Coinbase Custody or Coinbase Inc. fails to perform the functions they perform for the Fund, the Fund may be unable to operate or create or redeem Creation Units, which could force the Fund to liquidate or adversely affect the price of the Shares.
Similarly, if an Authorized Participant or an Ether Trading Counterparty suffers insolvency, business failure or interruption, default, failure to perform, security breach, or in certain circumstances a force majeure event or if an Authorized Participant or an Ether Trading Counterparty chooses not to participate in the creation and redemption process of the Fund, and the Fund is unable to engage replacement Authorized Participants or Ether Trading Counterparties or access alternative services on commercially acceptable terms or at all, then the creation and redemption process of the Fund, the arbitrage mechanism used to keep the Shares in line with the NAV and the Fund’s operations generally could be negatively affected.
In the event of any SEC or governmental, regulatory or other enforcement action or litigation, Coinbase, Inc., as Prime Broker, could be required, as a result of a judicial determination, or could choose, to restrict or curtail the services it offers, or its financial condition and ability to provide prime brokerage services to the Fund could be affected. If the Prime Broker were to be required or choose as a result of a regulatory action (including, for example, litigation initiated by the SEC), to restrict or curtail the services it offers, it could negatively affect the Fund’s ability to operate or process creations or redemptions of Creation Units, which could force the Fund to liquidate or adversely affect the price of the Shares. If Coinbase Global, as the parent of the Ether Custodian, is required, as a result of a judicial determination, or could choose, to restrict or curtail the services its subsidiaries provide to the Fund, or its financial condition is negatively affected, it could negatively affect the Fund’s ability to operate.
Alternatively, the Sponsor could decide to replace Coinbase Custody as the Ether Custodian with custody of the Fund’s ether, and Coinbase Inc. as Prime Broker. Similarly, Coinbase Custody or Coinbase Inc. could terminate services under the Custodian Agreement or the Prime Broker Agreement respectively upon providing the applicable notice to the Fund for any reason, or immediately for Cause (a “Termination for Cause” is defined in the Prime Broker Agreement as (i) the Fund materially breaches any provision of the Prime Broker Agreement; (ii) the Fund takes any action to dissolve or liquidate, in whole or part; (iii) the Fund becomes insolvent, makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors, becomes subject to direct control of a trustee, receiver or similar authority; (iv) the Fund becomes subject to any bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding under any applicable laws, rules and regulations, such termination being effective immediately upon any declaration of bankruptcy; (v) the Prime Broker becomes aware of any facts or circumstances with respect to the Fund’s financial, legal, regulatory or reputational position which may affect Fund’s ability to comply with its obligations under the Prime Broker Agreement; (vi) termination is required pursuant to a facially valid subpoena, court order or binding order of a government authority; (vii) the Fund’s Prime Broker Account is subject to any pending litigation, investigation or government proceeding and/or Prime Broker reasonably perceives a heightened risk of legal regulatory non-compliance associated with Fund’s use of Prime Broker services; or (viii) the Prime Broker reasonably suspects Fund of attempting to circumvent Prime Broker’s controls or uses the Prime Broker Services in a manner Prime Broker otherwise deems inappropriate or potentially harmful to itself or third parties. Transferring maintenance responsibilities of the Fund’s account at the at the Prime Broker or at the Ether Custodian to another prime broker or custodian will likely be complex and could subject the Fund’s ether to the risk of loss during the transfer, which could have a negative impact on the performance of the Shares or result in loss of the Fund’s assets. As Prime Broker, Coinbase Inc. does not guarantee uninterrupted access to the Trading Platform or the services it provides to the Fund as Prime Broker. Under certain circumstances, Coinbase Inc. is permitted to halt or suspend trading on its trading platform, or impose limits on the amount or size of, or reject, the Fund’s orders, including in the event of, among others, delays, suspension of operations, failure in performance, or interruption of service that are directly due to a cause or condition beyond the reasonable control of Coinbase Inc., or the acceptance of the Fund’s order would cause the amount of Trade Credits extended to exceed the maximum amount of Trade Credit (as defined below) that the Fund’s agreement with the Trade Credit Lender permits to be outstanding at any one time. Also, if Coinbase Custody or Coinbase Inc. become insolvent, suffer business failure, cease business operations, default on or fail to perform their obligations under their contractual agreements with the Fund, or abruptly discontinue the services they provide to the Fund for any reason, the Fund’s operations would be adversely affected.
The Sponsor may not be able to find a party willing to serve as the custodian of the Fund’s ether or as the Fund’s prime broker under the same terms as the current Custodian Agreement or Prime Broker Agreement or at all. To the extent that Sponsor is not able to find a suitable party willing to serve as the custodian or prime broker, the Sponsor may be required to terminate the Fund and liquidate the Fund’s ether. In addition, to the extent that the Sponsor finds a suitable party but must enter into a modified Custodian Agreement or Prime Broker Agreement that is less favorable for the Fund or Sponsor, the value of the Shares could be adversely affected. If the Fund is unable to find a replacement prime broker, its operations could be adversely affected.
The lack of full insurance and Shareholders’ limited rights of legal recourse against the Fund, Trustee, Sponsor, Administrator, Cash Custodian, Prime Broker and Ether Custodian expose the Fund and its Shareholders to the risk of loss of the Fund’s ether for which no person or entity is liable.
The Fund is not a banking institution or otherwise a member of the FDIC or Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) and, therefore, deposits held with or assets held by the Fund are not subject to the protections enjoyed by depositors with FDIC or SIPC member institutions. In addition, neither the Fund nor the Sponsor insure the Fund’s ether. The Ether Custodian’s parent, Coinbase Global, Inc. (“Coinbase Global”) currently maintains a commercial crime insurance policy. Coinbase Global has maintained a commercial crime insurance policy since 2013, which is designed to be comprehensive and is intended to cover the loss of client assets held by Coinbase Global and all of its subsidiaries, including the Ether Custodian and the Prime Broker (collectively, Coinbase Global and its subsidiaries are referred to as the “Coinbase Insureds”), including from employee collusion or fraud, physical loss including theft, damage of key material, security breach or hack, and fraudulent transfer. The commercial crime insurance policy is intended to provide the Coinbase Insureds and their clients with some of the broadest and deepest insurance coverage in the crypto industry, with comprehensive coverage terms and conditions. This policy is renewed annually and the insurance amounts are subject to review and change. The Ether Custodian has advised the Sponsor that this insurance is maintained at a commercially reasonable amount for the ether custodied on behalf of the Ether Insureds’ clients, including the Fund’s ether custodied by the Ether Custodian. The insurance maintained by Coinbase Global is shared among all of Coinbase’s customers, is not specific to the Fund or to customers holding ether with the Ether Custodian or Prime Broker and may not be available or sufficient to protect the Fund from all possible losses or sources of losses. Coinbase Global’s insurance may not cover the type of losses experienced by the Fund. Coinbase Global’s insurance may not cover the type of losses experienced by the Fund. Further, the coverage will not be sufficient to fully cover losses for the Fund in the event of a catastrophic, large-scale or simultaneous incident affecting multiple Coinbase clients. Coinbase Global may choose not to renew, or may be unable to renew any portion or all of these insurance policies, which may further expose the Trust and its Shareholders to the risk of loss. Alternatively, the Fund may be forced to share such insurance proceeds with other clients or customers of the Coinbase Insureds, which could reduce the amount of such proceeds that are available to the Fund. In addition, the digital asset insurance market is limited, and the level of insurance maintained by Coinbase Global may be substantially lower than the assets of the Fund. Alternatively, the Fund may may be forced to share such insurance proceeds with other clients or customers of the Coinbase Insureds, which could reduce the amount of such proceeds that are available to the Fund. In addition, the Digital Assets insurance market is limited, and the level of insurance maintained by Coinbase Global may be substantially lower than the assets of the Fund. While the Ether Custodian maintains certain capital reserve requirements depending on the assets under custody, and such capital reserves may provide additional means to cover client asset losses, the Fund cannot be assured that the Ether Custodian will maintain capital reserves sufficient to cover actual or potential losses with respect to the Fund’s digital assets.
Furthermore, under the Custodian Agreement, the Ether Custodian’s liability is limited to the greater of (i) the aggregate amount of fees paid by the Fund to the Ether Custodian in respect of the custodial services in the 12-month period prior to the event giving rise to such liability or (ii) the value of the supported digital assets on deposit in the Fund’s custodial account(s) giving rise to such liability at the time of the event giving rise to such liability; provided, that in no event shall Ether Custodian aggregate liability in respect of each cold storage address exceed $100,000,000. In addition, the Prime Broker’s defense and indemnity obligations under the Prime Broker Agreement (the Custodian Agreement is part of the Prime Broker Agreement) will be limited, in the aggregate, to an amount equal to $2,000,000. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is no liability limit for losses arising from the Ether Custodian’s fraud or willful misconduct. With regard to any incidental, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or similar losses, the Ether Custodian is not liable, even if the Ether Custodian has been advised of or knew or should have known of the possibility thereof. The Ether Custodian is not liable for delays, suspension of operations, failure in performance, or interruption of service to the extent it is directly due to a cause or condition beyond the reasonable control of the Ether Custodian. In the event of potential losses incurred by the Fund as a result of the Ether Custodian losing control of the Fund’s ether or failing to properly execute instructions on behalf of the Fund, the Ether Custodian’s liability with respect to the Fund will be subject to certain limitations which may allow it to avoid liability for potential losses or may be insufficient to cover the value of such potential losses, even if the Ether Custodian directly caused such losses. Furthermore, the insurance maintained by the Ether Custodian may be insufficient to cover its liabilities to the Fund.
Similarly, under the Prime Broker Agreement, the Prime Broker’s liability is limited to the greater of (a) the aggregate amount of fees paid by a Fund to the Prime Broker in respect of the prime broker services in the 12-month period prior to the event giving rise to such liability or (b) the value of the supported digital assets giving rise to such liability; In addition, the Prime Broker’s defense and indemnity obligations under the Prime Broker Agreement will be limited, in the aggregate, to an amount equal to $2,000,000. Notwithstanding the foregoing, there is no liability limit for losses arising from the Prime Broker’s fraud or willful misconduct. With regard to any incidental, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or similar losses, the Prime Broker is not liable, even if the Prime Broker has been advised of or knew or should have known of the possibility thereof. The Prime Broker is not liable for delays, suspension of operations, failure in performance, or interruption of service to the extent it is directly due to a cause or condition beyond the reasonable control of the Prime Broker. These and the other limitations on the Prime Broker’s liability may allow it to avoid liability for potential losses or may be insufficient to cover the value of such potential losses, even if the Prime Broker directly caused such losses. Both the Fund and the Prime Broker and its affiliates (including the Ether Custodian) are required to indemnify each other under certain circumstances.
Moreover, in the event of an insolvency or bankruptcy of the Prime Broker (in the case of the Trading Balance) or the Ether Custodian (in the case of the Vault Balance) in the future, given that the contractual protections and legal rights of customers with respect to digital assets held on their behalf by third parties are relatively untested in a bankruptcy of an entity such as the Ether Custodian or Prime Broker in the virtual currency industry, there is a risk that customers’ assets – including the Fund’s assets – may be considered the property of the bankruptcy estate of the Prime Broker (in the case of the Trading Balance) or the Ether Custodian (in the case of the Vault Balance), and customers – including the Fund – may be at risk of being treated as general unsecured creditors of such entities and subject to the risk of total loss or markdowns on value of such assets.
The Prime Broker Agreement contains an agreement by the parties to treat the ether credited to the Fund’s Trade Balance and Vault Balance as financial assets under Article 8 of the New York Uniform Commercial Code (“Article 8”). In addition, the Custodian Agreement states that the Ether Custodian will serve as fiduciary and custodian on the Fund’s behalf. The Ether Custodian’s parent, Coinbase Global Inc., has stated in its most recent public securities filings that in light of the inclusion in its agreements of provisions relating to Article 8 it believes that a court would not treat custodied digital assets as part of its general estate in the event the Custodian were to experience insolvency. However, due to the novelty of digital asset custodial arrangements courts have not yet considered this type of treatment for custodied digital assets and it is not possible to predict with certainty how they would rule in such a scenario. If the Ether Custodian became subject to insolvency proceedings and a court were to rule that the custodied ether were part of the Ether Custodian’s general estate and not the property of the Fund, then the Fund would be treated as a general unsecured creditor in the Ether Custodian’s insolvency proceedings and the Fund could be subject to the loss of all or a significant portion of its assets. Moreover, in the event of the bankruptcy of the Ether Custodian, an automatic stay could go into effect and protracted litigation could be required in order to recover the assets held with the Ether Custodian, all of which could significantly and negatively impact the Fund’s operations and the value of the Shares.
With respect to the Prime Broker Agreement, there is a risk that the Trading Balance, in which the Fund’s ether and cash is held in omnibus accounts by the Prime Broker (in the latter case, as described below in “—Loss of a critical banking relationship for, or the failure of a bank used by, the Prime Broker could adversely impact the Fund’s ability to create or redeem Creation Units, or could cause losses to the Fund”), could be considered part of the Prime Broker’s bankruptcy estate in the event of the Prime Broker’s bankruptcy. The Prime Broker Agreement contains an Article 8 opt-in clause with respect to the Fund’s assets held in the Trading Balance. The Prime Broker is not required to hold any of the ether or cash in the Fund’s Trading Balance in segregation. Within the Trading Balance, the Prime Broker Agreement provides that the Fund does not have an identifiable claim to any particular ether (and cash). Instead, the Fund’s Trading Balance represents an entitlement to a pro rata share of the ether (and cash) the Prime Broker has allocated to the omnibus wallets the Prime Broker holds, as well as the accounts in the Prime Broker’s name that the Prime Broker maintains at Connected Trading Venues (the “Connected Trading Venue”) (which are typically held on an omnibus, rather than segregated, basis). If the Prime Broker suffers an insolvency event, there is a risk that the Fund’s assets held in the Trading Balance could be considered part of the Prime Broker’s bankruptcy estate and the Fund could be treated as a general unsecured creditor of the Prime Broker, which could result in losses for the Fund and Shareholders. Moreover, in the event of the bankruptcy of the Prime Broker, an automatic stay could go into effect and protracted litigation could be required in order to recover the assets held with the Prime Broker, all of which could significantly and negatively impact the Fund’s operations and the value of the Shares. There are no policies that would limit the amount of ether that can be held temporarily in the Trading Balance maintained by the Prime Broker.
Under the Declaration of Trust, the Trustee and the Sponsor will not be liable for any liability or expense incurred, including, without limitation, as a result of any loss of ether by the Ether Custodian or Prime Broker, absent gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct on the part of the Trustee or the Sponsor. As a result, the recourse of the Fund or the Shareholders to the Trustee or the Sponsor, including in the event of a loss of ether by the Ether Custodian or Prime Broker, is limited.
The Shareholders’ recourse against the Sponsor, the Trustee, and the Fund’s other service providers for the services they provide to the Fund, including, without limitation, those relating to the holding of ether or the provision of instructions relating to the movement of ether, is limited. For the avoidance of doubt, neither the Sponsor, the Trustee, nor any of their affiliates, nor any other party has guaranteed the assets or liabilities, or otherwise assumed the liabilities, of the Fund, or the obligations or liabilities of any service provider to the Fund, including, without limitation, the Ether Custodian and Prime Broker. The Prime Broker Agreement provides that none of the Coinbase Entities have recourse, whether by set-off or otherwise, with respect to any amounts owed or liabilities incurred by the Fund, to or against any assets of the Sponsor or any affiliate of such Sponsor. Consequently, a loss may be suffered with respect to the Fund’s ether that is not covered by the Ether Custodian’s insurance and for which no person is liable in damages. As a result, the recourse of the Fund or the Shareholders, under applicable law, is limited.
If the Trade Credits are not available or become exhausted, the Fund may face delays in buying or selling ether that may adversely impact Shareholders; if the Fund does not repay the Trade Credits on time, its assets may be liquidated by the Trade Credit Lender and its affiliates.
To avoid having to pre-fund purchases or sales of ether in connection with cash creations and redemptions and sales of ether to pay the Sponsor’s Fee and any other Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, to the extent applicable, the Fund may borrow ether or cash as Trade Credit from the Trade Credit Lender on a short-term basis pursuant to the Trade Financing Agreement. The Trade Credit Lender is only required to extend Trade Credits to the Fund to the extent such ether or cash is actually available to the Trade Credit Lender. To the extent that Trade Credits are not available or become exhausted, (1) there may be delays in the buying and selling of ether related to cash creations and redemptions or the selling of ether related to paying the Sponsor’s Fee and, to the extent applicable, (2) Fund assets may be in held the Trading Balance for a longer duration than if Trade Credits were available, and (3) the execution price associated with such trades may deviate significantly from the Index price used to determine the Fund’s NAV. To the extent that the execution price for purchases and sales of ether related to creations and redemptions and sales of ether in connection with paying the Sponsor’s Fee and any other Fund expenses deviate significantly from the Index price used to determine the NAV of the Fund, the Shareholders may be negatively impacted because the added costs of such price deviations, which would be borne by the Authorized Participants, may be passed onto the Shareholders in the secondary market. The magnitude of this risk factor relating to the unavailability or exhaustion of the Trade Credits is heightened as a result of the fact that the Fund effectuates creations and redemptions exclusively for cash rather than in-kind. The Fund generally must repay Trade Credits by 6:00 p.m. ET (the “Settlement Deadline”) on the calendar day immediately following the day the Trade Credit was extended by the Trade Credit Lender to the Fund (or, if such day is not a business day, on the next business day). Pursuant to the Trade Financing Agreement, the Fund has granted a security interest, lien on, and right of set off against all of the Fund’s right, title and interest, in the Fund’s Trading Balance and Vault Balance established pursuant to the Prime Broker Agreement and Custodian Agreement, in order to secure the repayment by the Fund of the Trade Credits and financing fees to the Trade Credit Lender. Upon a failure by the Fund to pay and settle in full its obligations to the Trade Credit Lender in respect of the financing it provides to the Fund in the form of Trade Credits, the Ether Custodian and the Prime Broker have agreed to comply with instructions from the Trade Credit Lender with respect to the disposition of the assets in the Fund’s Vault Balance and Trading Balance respectively without further consent by the Fund. If the Fund fails to repay the Trade Credits to the Trade Credit Lender on time and in full, the Trade Credit Lender can take control of the Fund’s assets and liquidate them to repay the Trade Credit debt owed by the Fund to the Trade Credit Lender.
Loss of a critical banking relationship for, or the failure of a bank used by, the Prime Broker could adversely impact the Fund’s ability to create or redeem Creation Units, or could cause losses to the Fund.
The Prime Broker facilitates the buying and selling or settlement of ether by the Fund in connection with cash creations and redemptions between the Fund and the Authorized Participants, and the sale of ether, including to pay the Sponsor’s Fee, any other Fund expenses, to the extent applicable, in connection with redemption transactions, and in extraordinary circumstances, to effect the liquidation of the Fund’s ether. The Prime Broker relies on bank accounts to provide its trading platform services and including temporarily holding any cash related to a customer’s purchase or sale of ether. In particular, the Prime Broker has disclosed that customer cash held by the Prime Broker, including the cash associated with the Fund’s Trading Balance, is held (i) in one or more omnibus accounts in the Prime Broker’s name for the benefit of customers at one or more U.S. insured depository institutions (each, an “FBO account”); (ii) with respect to US dollars, liquid investments, which may include but are not limited to U.S. treasuries and money market funds operating in compliance with Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act and rated “AAA” by S&P (or the equivalent from any eligible rating service) (“Money Market Funds”), in accordance with state money transmitter laws and (iii) in the Prime Broker’s omnibus accounts at Connected Trading Venues. The Prime Broker represents that it will title the FBO accounts it maintains with U.S. depository institutions and maintain records of the Fund’s interest in a manner designed to enable receipt of FDIC deposit insurance, where applicable and up to the deposit insurance limits applicable under FDIC regulations and guidance, on Fund cash for the Fund’s benefit on a pass-through basis. The Prime Broker, however, does not guarantee that pass-through FDIC deposit insurance will apply to Fund cash, since such insurance is dependent in part on compliance of the depository institutions. The Prime Broker may also title its accounts at some or all Connected Trading Venues and maintain records of Fund interests in those accounts in a manner consistent with FDIC requirements for pass-through deposit insurance, but availability of pass-through deposit insurance, up to the deposit insurance limits applicable under FDIC regulations and guidance, is also dependent on the actions of the Connected Trading Venues and any depository institutions they use, which may not be structured to provide pass-through deposit insurance. FDIC insurance applies to cash deposits at banks and other insured depository institutions in the event of a failure of that institution, and does not apply to the Prime Broker any ether held by a the Prime Broker on Fund’s behalf. The Sponsor has not independently verified the Prime Broker’s representations. To the extent that the Prime Broker faces difficulty establishing or maintaining banking relationships, the loss of the Prime Broker’s banking partners or the imposition of operational restrictions by these banking partners and the inability for the Prime Broker to utilize other financial institutions may result in a disruption of creation and redemption activity of the Fund, or cause other operational disruptions or adverse effects for the Fund. In the future, it is possible that the Prime Broker could be unable to establish accounts at new banking partners or establish new banking relationships, or that the banks with which the Prime Broker is able to establish relationships may not be as large or well-capitalized or subject to the same degree of prudential supervision as the existing providers.
The Fund could also suffer losses in the event that a bank in which the Prime Broker holds customer cash, including the cash associated with the Fund’s Trading Balance (which is used by the Prime Broker to move cash flows associated with the Fund’s orders to sell ether, fails, becomes insolvent, enters receivership, is taken over by regulators, enters financial distress, or otherwise suffers adverse effects to its financial condition or operational status. Recently, some banks have experienced financial distress. For example, on March 8, 2023, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) announced that Silvergate Bank had entered voluntary liquidation, and on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank, (“SVB”), was closed by the DFPI, which appointed the FDIC, as receiver. Similarly, on March 12, 2023, the New York Department of Financial Services took possession of Signature Bank and appointed the FDIC as receiver. A joint statement by the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC on March 12, 2023, stated that depositors in Signature and SVB will have access to all of their funds, including funds held in deposit accounts, in excess of the insured amount. On May 1, 2023, First Republic Bank was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. Following a bidding process, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, to acquire the substantial majority of the assets and assume certain liabilities of First Republic Bank from the FDIC.
Similar events in the future that impact banking relationships maintained by key Fund or service providers such as the Prime Broker could impair the Fund’s ability to access the Fund’s cash held in the Fund’s Trading Balance or associated with the Fund’s orders to sell ether, including in connection with payment of the Sponsor’s Fee, and to the extent applicable, other Fund expenses and/or redemption transactions. If the Prime Broker were to experience financial distress or its financial condition is otherwise affected by the failure of its banking partners, the Prime Broker’s ability to provide services to the Fund could be affected. Moreover, the future failure of a bank at which the Prime Broker maintains customer cash, in the Fund’s Trading Balance associated with the Fund’s orders to sell ether in connection with payment of the Sponsor’s Fee, and to the extent applicable, other Fund expenses, could result in losses to the Fund, to the extent the balances are not subject to deposit insurance, notwithstanding the regulatory requirements to which the Prime Broker is subject or other potential protections. Although the Prime Broker has made certain representations to the Sponsor regarding the Prime Broker’s maintenance of records in a manner reasonably designed to qualify for FDIC insurance on a pass-through basis in connection with the accounts in which the Prime Broker maintains cash on behalf of its customers (including the Fund), there can be no assurance that such pass-through insurance will ultimately be made available. In addition, the Fund may maintain cash balances with the Prime Broker that are not insured or are in excess of the FDIC’s insurance limits, or which are maintained by the Prime Broker at money market funds and subject to the attendant risks (e.g., “breaking the buck”). As a result, the Fund could suffer losses.
The Prime Broker routes orders through Connected Trading Venues in connection with trading services under the Prime Broker Agreement. The loss or failure of any such Connected Trading Venues may adversely affect the Prime Broker’s business and cause losses for the Fund.
In connection with trading services under the Prime Broker Agreement, the Prime Broker routinely routes customer orders to Connected Trading Venues, which are third-party platforms or other trading venues (including the trading venue operated by the Prime Broker). In connection with these activities, the Prime Broker may hold ether with such Connected Trading Venues in order to effect customer orders, including the Fund’s orders. Cash may also be held in the Prime Broker’s omnibus account at the Connected Trading Venues. If the Prime Broker were to experience a disruption in the Prime Broker’s access to these Connected Trading Venues, the Prime Broker’s trading services under the Prime Broker Agreement could be adversely affected to the extent that the Prime Broker is limited in its ability to execute order flow for its customers, including the Fund. In addition, while the Prime Broker has policies and procedures to help mitigate the Prime Broker’s risks related to routing orders through third-party trading venues, if any of these third-party trading venues experience any technical, legal, regulatory or other adverse events, such as shutdowns, delays, system failures, suspension of withdrawals, illiquidity, insolvency, or loss of customer assets, the Prime Broker might not be able to fully recover the customer’s ether or cash that the Prime Broker has deposited with these third parties. As a result, the Prime Broker’s business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected, potentially resulting in its failure to provide services to the Fund or perform its obligations under the Prime Broker Agreement, and the Fund could suffer resulting losses or disruptions to its operations. The failure of a Connected Trading Venue at which the Prime Broker maintains customer ether or cash, including ether or cash associated with the Fund, could result in losses to the Fund, notwithstanding the regulatory requirements to which the Prime Broker is subject or other potential protections.
The Fund may be terminated and liquidated at a time that is disadvantageous to Shareholders.
The Sponsor may terminate and liquidate the Fund or Trust for any reason in its sole discretion. See “Termination Events.”
If the Sponsor determines that it is appropriate to terminate and liquidate the Fund, such termination and liquidation could occur at a time that is disadvantageous to Shareholders, such as when the actual exchange rate of ether at such time is lower than the Index was at the time when Shareholders purchased their Shares. In such a case, when the Fund’s ether are sold as part of its liquidation, the resulting proceeds distributed to Shareholders will be less than if the actual exchange rate at such time were higher at the time of sale.
The Declaration of Trust includes provisions that limit Shareholders’ voting rights and the ability to participate in shareholder derivative actions.
Under the Declaration of Trust, Shareholders generally have no voting rights and the Fund will not have regular Shareholder meetings. Shareholders take no part in the management or control of the Fund. Accordingly, Shareholders do not have the right to authorize actions, appoint service providers or take other actions as may be taken by shareholders of other trusts or companies where shares carry such rights. The shareholders’ limited voting rights give almost all control under the Declaration of Trust to the Sponsor and the Trustee. The Sponsor may take actions in the operation of the Fund that may be adverse to the interests of Shareholders and may adversely affect the value of the Shares.
Moreover, pursuant to the terms of the Declaration of Trust, Shareholders’ statutory right under Delaware law to bring a derivative action (i.e., to initiate a lawsuit in the name of the Trust in order to assert a claim belonging to the Trust against a fiduciary of the Trust or against a third-party when the Trust’s management has refused to do so) is restricted. Under Delaware law, a shareholder may bring a derivative action if the shareholder is a shareholder at the time the action is brought and either (i) was a shareholder at the time of the transaction at issue or (ii) acquired the status of shareholder by operation of law or the Trust’s governing instrument from a person who was a shareholder at the time of the transaction at issue. Additionally, Section 3816(e) of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act specifically provides that a “beneficial owner’s right to bring a derivative action may be subject to such additional standards and restrictions, if any, as are set forth in the governing instrument of the statutory trust, including, without limitation, the requirement that beneficial owners owning a specified beneficial interest in the statutory trust join in the bringing of the derivative action.” In addition to the requirements of applicable law and in accordance with Section 3816(e), the Declaration of Trust includes conditions that require (1) a Shareholder or Shareholders to make a pre-suit demand upon the Sponsor to bring the subject action unless an effort to cause the Sponsor to bring such an action is not likely to succeed (a demand on the Sponsor shall only be deemed not likely to succeed and therefore excused if the Sponsor has a personal financial interest in the transaction at issue) and (2) Shareholders eligible to bring a derivative action under the Delaware Statutory Trust Act who hold at least 10% of the outstanding Shares of the Trust, or 10% of the outstanding Shares of the Series or Class to which such action relates, must join in a request for the Sponsor to commence such action. This provision applies to any derivative actions brought in the name of the Trust other than claims under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Due to these requirements, a Shareholder attempting to bring or maintain a derivative action in the name of the Trust will be required to have sufficient Shares to meet the 10% threshold based on the number of Shares outstanding on the date the claim is brought and thereafter throughout the duration of the action, suit or proceeding. This may be difficult and may result in increased costs to a Shareholder attempting to seek redress in the name of the Trust in court. Moreover, if Shareholders bringing a derivative action, suit or proceeding pursuant to this provision of the Declaration of Trust do not hold 10% of the outstanding Shares on the date such an action, suit or proceeding is brought, or such Shareholders are unable to maintain Share ownership meeting the 10% threshold throughout the duration of the action, suit or proceeding, such Shareholders’ derivative action may be subject to dismissal. As a result, the Declaration of trust limits the likelihood that a Shareholder will be able to successfully assert a derivative action in the name of the Trust, even if such Shareholder believes that he or she has a valid derivative action, suit or other proceeding to bring on behalf of the Trust.
The non-exclusive jurisdiction for certain types of actions and proceedings and waiver of trial by jury clauses set forth in the Declaration of Trust may have the effect of limiting a Shareholder’s rights to bring legal action against the Trust and could limit a purchaser’s ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with the Trust.
The Declaration of Trust provides that the courts of the state of Delaware and any federal courts located in Wilmington, Delaware will be the non-exclusive jurisdiction for any claims, suits, actions or proceedings, provided that suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction and the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. By purchasing Shares in the Trust, Shareholders waive certain claims that the courts of the state of Delaware and any federal courts located in Wilmington, Delaware is an inconvenient venue or is otherwise inappropriate. As such, Shareholder could be required to litigate a matter relating to the Trust in a Delaware court, even if that court may otherwise be inconvenient for the Shareholder.
The Declaration of Trust also waives the right to trial by jury in any such claim, suit, action or proceeding, including any claim under the U.S. federal securities laws, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. If a lawsuit is brought against the Trust, it may be heard only by a judge or justice of the applicable trial court, which would be conducted according to different civil procedures and may result in different outcomes than a trial by jury would have, including results that could be less favorable to the plaintiffs in any such action. No Shareholder can waive compliance with respect to the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
If a Shareholder opposed a jury trial demand based on the waiver, the applicable court would determine whether the waiver was enforceable based on the facts and circumstances of that case in accordance with applicable federal laws. To our knowledge, the enforceability of a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver in connection with claims arising under the U.S. federal securities laws has not been finally adjudicated by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, we believe that a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver provision is generally enforceable, including under the laws of the State of Delaware, which govern the Declaration of Trust. By purchasing Shares in the Trust, Shareholders waive a right to a trial by jury which may limit a Shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Trust.
The Sponsor is solely responsible for determining the value of the net asset value of the Fund, and any errors, discontinuance or changes in such valuation calculations may have an adverse effect on the value of the Shares.
The Sponsor has the exclusive authority to determine the net asset value of the Fund. The Sponsor has delegated to the Administrator the responsibility to calculate the net asset value of the Fund, based on a pricing source selected by the Sponsor. The Administrator determines the net asset value of the Fund as of 4:00 p.m. ET, on each Business Day, as soon as practicable after that time. The Administrator’s determination is made utilizing data from the operations of the Fund and the Index, calculated at 4:00 p.m. ET, on such day. If the Sponsor determines in good faith that the Index does not reflect an accurate ether price, then the Sponsor will instruct the Administrator to employ an alternative method to determine the fair value of the Fund’s assets. There are no predefined criteria to make a good faith assessment as to which of the rules the Sponsor will apply and the Sponsor may make this determination in its sole discretion. The Administrator may value the ether held by the Fund based on the Index in a manner that ultimately inaccurately reflects the price of ether. To the extent that the net asset value of the Fund, the Index, or the Administrator’s or the Sponsor’s other valuation methodology are incorrectly calculated, neither the Sponsor nor the Administrator may be liable for any error and such misreporting of valuation data could adversely affect the value of the Shares and investors could suffer a substantial loss on their investment in the Fund. Moreover, the terms of the Declaration of Trust and the Sponsor Agreement do not prohibit the Sponsor from changing the Index or other valuation method used to calculate the net asset value of the Fund. Any such change in the Index or other valuation method could affect the value of the Shares and investors could suffer a substantial loss on their investment in the Fund.
To the extent the methodology used to calculate the Index is deemed not to be consistent with GAAP, the Fund’s periodic financial statements may not utilize the Fund’s net asset value. The Fund’s periodic financial statements will be prepared in accordance with GAAP, including ASC Topic 820, and utilize an exchange-traded price from the principal market for ether as of the Fund’s financial statement measurement date. The Sponsor will determine in its sole discretion the valuation sources and policies used to prepare the Fund’s financial statements. To the extent that such valuation sources and policies used to prepare the Fund’s financial statements result in an inaccurate price, the value of the Shares could be adversely affected and investors could suffer a substantial loss on their investment in the Fund. Moreover, the terms of the Declaration of Trust and the Sponsor Agreement do not prohibit the Sponsor from changing the valuation method used to calculate the net asset value to be reported in the Fund’s financial statements. Any such change in such valuation method could affect the value of the Shares and investors could suffer a substantial loss on their investment in the Fund.
Extraordinary expenses resulting from unanticipated events may become payable by the Fund, adversely affecting the value of the Shares.
In consideration for the Sponsor’s Fee, the Sponsor has contractually assumed ordinary course operational and periodic expenses of the Fund, with the exception of those described in “Business of the Fund—Fund Expenses” of the Prospectus. Expenses incurred by the Fund but not assumed by the Sponsor, such as, among others, taxes and governmental charges; expenses and costs of any extraordinary services performed by the Sponsor (or any other service provider) on behalf of the Fund to protect the Fund or the interests of Shareholders (including, for example, in connection with any fork of the Ethereum blockchain, any Incidental Rights and any IR Virtual Currency); or extraordinary legal fees and expenses are not assumed by the Sponsor and are borne by the Fund. The Sponsor will cause the Fund to either (i) sell ether held by the Fund or (ii) deliver ether in‑kind to the Sponsor to pay Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor on an as-needed basis. Accordingly, the Fund may be required to sell or otherwise dispose of ether, at a time when the trading prices are depressed. The sale or other disposition of assets of the Fund in order to pay extraordinary expenses could have a negative impact on the value of the Shares for several reasons. These include the following factors:
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The Fund is not actively managed and no attempt will be made to protect against or to take advantage of fluctuations in the price of ether. Consequently, if the Fund incurs expenses in U.S. dollars, the Fund’s ether may be sold at a time when the values of the disposed assets are low, resulting in a negative impact on the value of the Shares.
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Because the Fund does not generate any income, every time that the Fund pays expenses, it will deliver ether to the Sponsor or sell ether. Any sales of the Fund’s ether in connection with the payment of expenses will decrease the amount of the Fund’s assets represented by each Share each time its ether are sold or transferred to the Sponsor.
The Fund’s delivery or sale of ether to pay expenses or otherwise in connection with operations of the Fund could result in Shareholders incurring tax liability without an associated distribution from the Fund.
Assuming that the Fund is treated as a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes, each delivery of ether by the Fund to pay the Sponsor’s Fee or other expenses and each sale of ether by the Fund to pay Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor will be a taxable event to beneficial owners of Shares. Thus, the Fund’s payment of expenses could result in beneficial owners of Shares incurring tax liability without an associated distribution from the Fund. Any such tax liability could adversely affect an investment in the Shares.
The value of the Shares will be adversely affected if the Fund is required to indemnify the Sponsor, the Trustee, the Administrator, the Ether Custodian or the Cash Custodian pursuant to its contractual arrangements.
Under the Declaration of Trust and the applicable agreements with various Fund service providers, each of the Sponsor, the Trustee, the Administrator and the Custodians has a right to be indemnified by the Fund for certain liabilities or expenses that it incurs without, depending on the applicable arrangement, negligence or gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct on its part. Therefore, the Sponsor, Trustee, the Administrator, or the Custodians may require that the assets of the Fund be sold in order to cover losses or liability suffered by it. Any sale of that kind would reduce the Fund’s ether holdings and the value of the Shares.
Risk Factors Related to the Regulation of the Fund and the Shares
Digital asset markets in the U.S. exist in a state of regulatory uncertainty, and adverse legislative or regulatory developments could significantly harm the value of ether or the Shares, such as by banning, restricting or imposing onerous conditions or prohibitions on the use of ether, validator activity, digital wallets, the provision of services related to trading and custodying ether, the operation of the Ethereum network, or the digital asset markets generally.
There is a lack of consensus regarding the regulation of digital assets, including ether, and their markets. As a result of the growth in the size of the digital asset market, as well as the 2022 Events, the U.S. Congress and a number of U.S. federal and state agencies (including FinCEN, SEC, OCC, CFTC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"), the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the IRS, state financial institution regulators, and others) have been examining the operations of digital asset networks, digital asset users and the digital asset markets. Many of these state and federal agencies have brought enforcement actions or issued consumer advisories regarding the risks posed by digital assets to investors. Ongoing and future regulatory actions with respect to digital assets generally or ether in particular may alter, perhaps to a materially adverse extent, the nature of an investment in the Shares or the ability of the Fund to continue to operate.
The 2022 Events, including among others the bankruptcy filings of FTX and its subsidiaries, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, Genesis, BlockFi and others, and other developments in the digital asset markets, have resulted in calls for heightened scrutiny and regulation of the digital asset industry, with a specific focus on intermediaries such as digital asset platforms, platforms, and custodians. Federal and state legislatures and regulatory agencies may introduce and enact new laws and regulations to regulate crypto asset intermediaries, such as digital asset platforms and custodians.
US federal and state regulators, as well as the White House, have issued reports and releases concerning crypto assets, including Ether and crypto asset markets. Further, in 2023 the House of Representatives formed two new subcommittees: the Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee and the Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development Subcommittee, each of which were formed in part to analyze issues concerning crypto assets and demonstrate a legislative intent to develop and consider the adoption of federal legislation designed to address the perceived need for regulation of and concerns surrounding the crypto industry. However, the extent and content of any forthcoming laws and regulations are not yet ascertainable with certainty, and it may not be ascertainable in the near future. A divided Congress makes any prediction difficult. We cannot predict how these and other related events will affect us or the crypto asset business.
President Trump has issued executive orders addressing the administration’s intention to establish a comprehensive digital assets regulatory framework. There have also been several bills introduced in Congress that propose to establish additional regulation and oversight of the digital asset markets.
It is not possible to predict whether, or when, any of these developments will lead to Congress granting additional authorities to the SEC, CFTC, or other regulators, what the nature of such additional authorities might be, how additional legislation and/or regulatory oversight might impact the ability of digital asset markets to function or how any new regulations or changes to existing regulations might impact the value of digital assets generally and ether held by the Fund specifically. The consequences of increased federal regulation of digital assets and digital asset activities could have a material adverse effect on the Fund and the Shares.
FinCEN requires any administrator or exchanger of convertible digital assets to register with FinCEN as a money transmitter and comply with the anti-money laundering regulations applicable to money transmitters. Entities which fail to comply with such regulations are subject to fines, may be required to cease operations, and could have potential criminal liability. For example, in 2015, FinCEN assessed a $700,000 fine against a sponsor of a digital asset for violating several requirements of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act by acting as an MSB and selling the digital asset without registering with FinCEN, and by failing to implement and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program. In 2017, FinCEN assessed a $110 million fine against BTC-e, a now defunct digital asset platform, for similar violations. The requirement that exchangers that do business in the U.S. register with FinCEN and comply with anti-money laundering regulations may increase the cost of buying and selling ether and therefore may adversely affect the price of ether and an investment in the Shares.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “U.S. Treasury Department”) has added digital currency addresses, including addresses on the Ethereum network, to the list of Specially Designated Nationals whose assets are blocked, and with whom U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing. Such actions by OFAC, or by similar organizations in other jurisdictions, may introduce uncertainty in the market as to whether ether that has been associated with such addresses in the past can be easily sold. This “tainted” ether may trade at a substantial discount to untainted ether. Reduced fungibility in the ether markets may reduce the liquidity of ether and therefore adversely affect their price.
In February 2020, then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated that digital assets were a “crucial area” on which the U.S. Treasury Department has spent significant time. Secretary Mnuchin announced that the U.S. Treasury Department is preparing significant new regulations governing digital asset activities to address concerns regarding the potential use for facilitating money laundering and other illicit activities. In December 2020, FinCEN, a bureau within the U.S. Treasury Department, proposed a rule that would require financial institutions to submit reports, keep records, and verify the identity of customers for certain transactions to or from so-called “unhosted” wallets, also commonly referred to as self-hosted wallets. In January 2021, the then U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen stated her belief that regulators should “look closely at how to encourage the use of digital assets for legitimate activities while curtailing their use for malign and illegal activities.”
Under regulations from the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”), businesses involved in digital asset business activity for third parties in or involving New York, excluding merchants and consumers, must apply for a license, commonly known as a BitLicense, from the NYDFS and must comply with anti-money laundering, cyber security, consumer protection, and financial and reporting requirements, among others. As an alternative to a BitLicense, a firm can apply for a charter to become a limited purpose trust company under New York law qualified to engage in certain digital asset business activities. Other states have considered or approved digital asset business activity statutes or rules, passing, for example, regulations or guidance indicating that certain digital asset business activities constitute money transmission requiring licensure.
The inconsistency in applying money transmitting licensure requirements to certain businesses may make it more difficult for these businesses to provide services, which may affect consumer adoption of ether and its price. In an attempt to address these issues, the Uniform Law Commission passed a model law in July 2017, the Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currency Businesses Act, which has many similarities to the BitLicense and features a multistate reciprocity licensure feature, wherein a business licensed in one state could apply for accelerated licensure procedures in other states. It is still unclear, however, how many states, if any, will adopt some or all of the model legislation.
Law enforcement agencies have often relied on the transparency of blockchains to facilitate investigations. However, certain privacy-enhancing features have been, or are expected to be, introduced to a number of digital asset networks. If the Ethereum network was to adopt any of these privacy-enhancing features, these features may provide law enforcement agencies with less visibility into transaction-level data. For example, “privacy pools,” zero knowledge proofs, and other technologies that could enhance privacy have been discussed by participants in the Ethereum network. Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, released a report in October 2017 noting the increased use of privacy-enhancing digital assets like Zcash and Monero in criminal activity on the internet. In August 2022, OFAC banned all U.S. citizens from using Tornado Cash, a digital asset protocol designed to obfuscate blockchain transactions, by adding certain Ethereum wallet addresses associated with the protocol to its Specially Designated Nationals list. In March 2025, OFAC removed Tornado Cash from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. However, U.S. sanctions policy and enforcement priorities relating to mixers, sanctions evasion, and other illicit finance risks involving digital assets may change, and DeFi protocols, service providers, and users may continue to face sanctions-related risks. On October 19, 2023, FinCEN published a proposed rulemaking to apply the authorities in Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act to impose requirements on financial institutions that engage in convertible virtual currency (“CVC”) transactions with CVC mixers. The proposed rule, if adopted, would require covered financial institutions to report to FinCEN any CVC transactions they process that involves CVC mixing within or involving a jurisdiction outside the United States. The term “CVC mixing” covers more than just transactions that involve CVC mixers like Tornado Cash, and seemingly could cover a broader range of conduct involving technologies, services, or methods that have the effect of obfuscating the source, destination, or amount of a CVC transaction, whether or not the obfuscation was intentional. If the rule were to be adopted as proposed and if the Ethereum network were to be deemed to or were to adopt features which come within the rule’s ambit, it could cause covered financial institutions - such as many virtual currency exchanges, or the Fund’s service providers, such as the Prime Broker or Cash Custodian - to reduce support for or cease offering services for ether or to the Fund, which could impair the utility of ether, the value of the Shares and the Fund’s ability to operate in compliance with new laws and regulations.
A determination that ether or any other digital asset is a “security” may adversely affect the value of Ether and the value of the Shares, and result in potentially extraordinary, nonrecurring expenses to, or termination of, the Fund.
Depending on its characteristics, a digital asset may be considered a “security” under the federal securities laws. The test for determining whether a particular digital asset is a “security” is complex and difficult to apply, and the outcome is difficult to predict. Public, though non-binding, statements made in the past by senior officials at the SEC and endorsed by its previous Chairman in a letter to a member of Congress appeared to indicate that the SEC did not consider ether to be a security, at least currently, and the staff has reportedly provided informal assurances to a handful of promoters that their digital assets are not securities. However, a recent federal court decision ruled that the SEC has not to date issued a definitive statement of its position on whether ether is a security for purposes of federal law. HODL Law, PLLC v. Securities and Exchange Commission, Case No. 22-cv-1832-L-JLB, 2023 WL 4852322 (Jul. 28, 2023), at *6. On the other hand, the SEC under the prior administration brought enforcement actions against the issuers and promoters of several other digital assets on the basis that the digital assets in question are securities. The CFTC has for years considered ether to be a commodity subject to its regulatory jurisdiction, and ether futures have been listed for years on CFTC-regulated exchanges while cleared ether swaps have been listed for trading on CFTC-regulated swap execution facilities not registered with the SEC without being deemed "mixed swaps" subject to joint CFTC and SEC jurisdiction to the Sponsor's knowledge.
Under the prior administration, the SEC has also brought enforcement actions against digital asset trading platforms for allegedly operating unregistered securities exchanges on the basis that certain of the digital assets traded on their platforms are securities. For example, in June 2023, the SEC brought suit against two of the largest operators of digital asset trading platforms in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Binance Holdings Ltd., et al (the “Binance Complaint”) and Securities and Exchange Commission v. Coinbase, Inc., and Coinbase Global, Inc. (the “Coinbase Complaint”), alleging that Binance and Coinbase had solicited U.S. investors to buy, sell, and trade “digital asset securities” through their unregistered trading platforms and operated unregistered securities exchanges, brokerages and clearing agencies. In addition, in November 2023, the SEC brought similar charges against Kraken (the “Kraken Complaint”). The Binance Complaint, the Coinbase Complaint and the Kraken Complaint have led, and may in the future lead, to further volatility in digital asset prices.
In February 2025, March 2025 and May 2025, Coinbase, Kraken and Binance, respectively, entered into a joint stipulation with the SEC to dismiss the SEC’s lawsuit against them with prejudice. These dismissals do not mean that the SEC has definitively determined that Digital Assets are not securities and the ultimate impact of these dismissals is yet unknown. Several other digital asset market participants also announced that the SEC informed them that the SEC was terminating its investigation or enforcement action into their firm. The ultimate outcome of these lawsuits (to the extent not yet dismissed), their effect on the broader digital asset ecosystem and the reputational impact on industry participants, remain uncertain.
Fraud or manipulation may also affect the constituent trading platforms used to calculate the CF Benchmarks Index. For example, Coinbase paid $6.5 million in 2021 to settle a CFTC enforcement action for reckless false, misleading, or inaccurate reporting as well as wash trading by a former employee on Coinbase’s GDAX platform. According to the CFTC’s order, during the relevant period prior to the enforcement action, Coinbase operated at least two trading programs which generated orders that, at times, matched with one another. Coinbase included the transactional information for these transactions, such as price and volume data, on its website and provided that information to reporting services, either directly or through access to its website, resulting in a perceived volume and level of liquidity of digital assets, on GDAX that was false, misleading or inaccurate.
Whether a digital asset is a security under the federal securities laws depends on whether it is included in the lists of instruments making up the definition of “security” in the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and the Investment Company Act. Digital assets as such do not appear in any of these lists, although each list includes the terms “investment contract” and “note,” and the SEC has typically analyzed whether a particular digital asset is a security by reference to whether it meets the tests developed by the federal courts interpreting these terms, known as the Howey and Reves tests, respectively. For many digital assets, whether or not the Howey or Reves tests are met is difficult to resolve definitively, and substantial legal arguments can often be made both in favor of and against a particular digital asset qualifying as a security under one or both of the Howey and Reves tests. Adding to the complexity, the SEC staff has indicated that the security status of a particular digital asset can change over time as the relevant facts evolve.
In March 2026, SEC Staff released guidance stating that most digital assets are not securities; digital commodities, digital collectables, and digital tools are generally not securities, while tokenized securities (digital assets that represent an underlying security) are securities. The guidance clarifies when certain activities, such as validation, mining, and wrapping, generally do not involve the offer and sale of securities.
The CFTC has for years considered digital assets to be commodities subject to its regulatory jurisdiction, and digital asset futures have been listed for years on CFTC-regulated exchanges while cleared digital asset swaps have been listed for trading on CFTC-regulated swap execution facilities not registered with the SEC without being deemed “mixed swaps” subject to joint CFTC and SEC jurisdiction to the Sponsor’s knowledge.
As part of determining whether ether is a security for purposes of the federal securities laws, the Sponsor takes into account a number of factors, including the various definitions of “security” under the federal securities laws and federal court decisions interpreting elements of these definitions, such as the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in the Howey and Reves cases, as well as reports, orders, press releases, public statements and speeches by the SEC and its staff providing guidance on when a digital asset may be a security for purposes of the federal securities laws, and other materials relevant to the status of ether as a security (or not). Finally, the Sponsor discusses the security status of ether with its external securities lawyers. Through this process the Sponsor believes that it is applying the proper legal standards in determining that ether is not a security in light of the uncertainties inherent in the Howey and Reves tests. In light of these uncertainties and the fact-based nature of the analysis, the Sponsor acknowledges that ether may in the future be found by the SEC or a federal court to be a security notwithstanding the Sponsor’s prior conclusion; and the Sponsor’s prior conclusion, even if reasonable under the circumstances and made in good faith, would not preclude legal or regulatory action based on the presence of a security.
The Sponsor may terminate and liquidate the Fund if the Sponsor determines ether is a security under the federal securities laws, whether that determination is initially made by the Sponsor itself, or because the SEC or a federal court subsequently makes that determination. Because the legal tests for determining whether a digital asset is or is not a security often leave room for interpretation, and because the SEC has not taken a definitive position, for so long as the Sponsor believes there to be good faith grounds to conclude that the Fund’s ether is not a security, the Sponsor does not intend to dissolve the Fund on the basis that ether could at some future point be determined to be a security.
Any enforcement action by the SEC or a state securities regulator asserting that ether is a security, or a court decision to that effect would be expected to have an immediate material adverse impact on the trading value of ether, as well as the Shares. This is because the business models behind most digital assets are incompatible with regulations applying to transactions in securities. If a digital asset is determined or asserted to be a security, it is likely to become difficult or impossible for the digital asset to be traded, cleared or custodied in the United States through the same channels used by non-security digital assets, which in addition to materially and adversely affecting the trading value of the digital asset is likely to significantly impact its liquidity and market participants’ ability to convert the digital asset into U.S. dollars. The New York Attorney General alleged in a lawsuit filed in March 2023 that ether was a security under New York and federal securities law and that a cryptocurrency exchange that deals in ether, unlawfully failed to register as a securities dealer under New York state law. However, the New York Attorney General alleged in the alternative in the same case that ether was a commodity under both New York state and federal law.
For example, in 2020 the SEC filed a complaint against the issuer of XRP, Ripple Labs, Inc., and two of its executives, alleging that they raised more than $1.3 billion through XRP sales that should have been registered under the federal securities laws, but were not. In the years prior to the SEC’s action, XRP’s market capitalization at times reached over $100 billion. However, in the weeks following the SEC’s complaint, XRP’s market capitalization fell to less than $10 billion, which was less than half of its market capitalization in the days prior to the complaint. The SEC’s action against XRP’s issuer underscores the continuing uncertainty around which digital assets are securities, and demonstrates that such factors as how long a digital asset has been in existence, how widely held it is, how large its market capitalization is and that it has actual usefulness in commercial transactions, ultimately may have no bearing on whether the SEC or a court will find it to be a security. Publicly available filings indicate the parties have agreed to settlement terms with respect to the enforcement proceeding.
In addition, if ether were determined to be a security, the Fund could be considered an unregistered “investment company” under SEC rules, which could necessitate the Fund’s liquidation. In this case, the Fund and the Sponsor may be deemed to have participated in an illegal offering of securities and there is no guarantee that the Sponsor will be able to register the Fund under the Investment Company Act at such time or take such other actions as may be necessary to ensure the Fund’s activities comply with applicable law, which could force the Sponsor to liquidate the Fund.
Moreover, whether or not the Sponsor or the Fund were subject to additional regulatory requirements as a result of any SEC or federal court determination that its assets include securities, the Sponsor may nevertheless decide to terminate the Fund, in order, if possible, to liquidate the Fund’s assets while a liquid market still exists. For example, in response to the SEC’s action against the issuer of XRP, certain significant market participants announced they would no longer support XRP and announced measures, including the delisting of XRP from major digital asset trading platforms. The sponsor of the Grayscale XRP Trust subsequently dissolved this trust and liquidated its assets. If the SEC or a federal court were to determine that ether is a security, it is likely that the value of the Shares of the Fund would decline significantly, and that the Fund itself may be terminated and, if practical, its assets liquidated.
Competing industries may have more influence with policymakers than the digital asset industry, which could lead to the adoption of laws and regulations that are harmful to the digital asset industry.
The digital asset industry is relatively new and does not have the same access to policymakers and lobbying organizations in many jurisdictions compared to industries with which digital assets may be seen to compete, such as banking, payments and consumer finance. Competitors from other, more established industries may have greater access to and influence with governmental officials and regulators and may be successful in persuading these policymakers that digital assets require heightened levels of regulation compared to the regulation of traditional financial services. As a result, new laws and regulations may be proposed and adopted in the United States and elsewhere, or existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in new ways, that disfavor or impose compliance burdens on the digital asset industry or crypto asset platforms, which could adversely impact the value of ether and therefore the value of the Shares.
Regulatory changes or actions in foreign jurisdictions may affect the value of the Shares or restrict the use of one or more digital assets, validating activity or the operation of their networks or the digital asset platform market in a manner that adversely affects the value of the Shares.
Various foreign jurisdictions have, and may continue to adopt laws, regulations or directives that affect digital asset networks (including the Ethereum network), the digital asset markets (including the ether market), and their users, particularly digital asset platforms and service providers that fall within such jurisdictions’ regulatory scope. For example, if China or other foreign jurisdictions were to ban or otherwise restrict validating activity, including by regulating or limiting manufacturers’ ability to produce or sell semiconductors or hard drives in connection with validating, it would have a material adverse effect on digital asset networks (including the Ethereum network), the digital asset market, and as a result, impact the value of the Shares.
A number of foreign jurisdictions have recently taken regulatory action aimed at digital asset activities. China has made transacting in cryptocurrencies illegal for Chinese citizens in mainland China, and additional restrictions may follow. Both China and South Korea have banned initial coin offerings entirely and regulators in other jurisdictions, including Canada, Singapore and Hong Kong, have opined that initial coin offerings may constitute securities offerings subject to local securities regulations. constitute securities offerings subject to local securities regulations. In May 2021, the Chinese government announced renewed efforts to restrict cryptocurrency trading and mining activities. Regulators in the Inner Mongolia and other regions of China have proposed regulations that would create penalties for companies engaged in cryptocurrency mining activities and introduce heightened energy saving requirements on industrial parks, data centers and power plants providing electricity to cryptocurrency miners. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority published final rules in October 2020 banning the sale of derivatives and exchange traded notes that reference certain types of digital assets, contending that they are “ill-suited” to retail investors citing extreme volatility, valuation challenges and association with financial crime. A new bill, the Financial Services and Markets Bill (“FSMB”), became law in 2023. The FSMB brings digital asset activities within the scope of existing laws governing financial institutions, markets and assets. In addition, the European Council of the European Union approved the text of Markets in Crypto-Assets (“MiCA”) in October 2022, establishing a regulatory framework for digital asset services across the European Union. MiCA is intended to serve as a comprehensive regulation of digital asset markets and imposes various obligations on digital asset issuers and service providers. The main aims of MiCA are industry regulation, consumer protection, prevention of market abuse and upholding the integrity of digital asset markets. MiCA passed the European Parliament in 2023 and applies from 2024.
Foreign laws, regulations or directives may conflict with those of the United States and may negatively impact the acceptance of one or more digital assets by users, merchants and service providers outside the United States and may therefore impede the growth or sustainability of the digital asset economy in the European Union, China, Japan, Russia and the United States and globally, or otherwise negatively affect the value of ether. Moreover, other events, such as the interruption in telecommunications or internet services, cyber-related terrorist acts, civil disturbances, war or other catastrophes, could also negatively affect the digital asset economy in one or more jurisdictions. For example, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 led to volatility in digital asset prices, with an initial steep decline followed by a sharp rebound in prices. The effect of any future regulatory change or other events on the Fund or ether is impossible to predict, but such change could be substantial and adverse to the Fund and the value of the Shares.
If regulators subject the Fund or the Sponsor to regulation as a money services business (“MSB”) or money transmitter, this could result in extraordinary expenses to the Fund or the Sponsor and also result in decreased liquidity for the Shares.
To the extent that the activities of the Fund or the Sponsor cause it to be deemed an MSB under the regulations promulgated by FinCEN, the Fund or the Sponsor may be required to comply with FinCEN regulations, make certain reports to FinCEN and maintain certain records. Similarly, the activities of the Fund or the Sponsor may require it to be licensed as a money transmitter or as a digital asset business, such as under the New York State Department of Financial Services’ BitLicense regulation.
Such additional regulatory obligations may cause the Fund or the Sponsor to incur extraordinary expenses. If the Fund or the Sponsor decided to seek the required licenses, there is no guarantee that they will timely receive them. The Sponsor may decide to discontinue and wind up the Fund. A dissolution of the Fund in response to the changed regulatory circumstances may be at a time that is disadvantageous to the Shareholders.
Additionally, to the extent the Fund or the Sponsor is found to have operated without appropriate state or federal licenses, it may be subject to investigation, administrative or court proceedings, and civil or criminal monetary fines and penalties, all of which would harm the reputation of the Fund or the Sponsor, and have a material adverse effect on the price of the Shares.
Anonymity and illicit financing risk.
Although transaction details of peer-to-peer transactions are recorded on the Ethereum blockchain, a buyer or seller of digital assets on a peer-to-peer basis directly on the Ethereum network may never know to whom the public key belongs or the true identity of the party with whom it is transacting. Public key addresses are randomized sequences of alphanumeric characters that, standing alone, do not provide sufficient information to identify users. In addition, certain technologies may obscure the origin or chain of custody of digital assets. On October 19, 2023, FinCEN published a proposed rulemaking under authorities in Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act that would impose requirements on financial institutions that engage in CVC transactions that involve CVC mixing within or involving a jurisdiction outside the United States. FinCEN’s rulemaking states that CVC mixing transactions can play a central role in facilitating the laundering of CVC derived from a variety of illicit activity, and are frequently used by criminals and state actors to facilitate a range of illicit activity, including, but not limited to, money laundering, sanctions evasion and weapons of mass destruction proliferation. Given that the Ethereum network is global and anyone can program DApps or smart contracts that will operate and record transactions on the Ethereum Blockchain, and the fact that their creators or programmers sometimes remain anonymous, it is not inconceivable that bad actors, such as those subject to sanctions, could seek to do so.
The opaque nature of the market poses asset verification challenges for market participants, regulators and auditors and gives rise to an increased risk of manipulation and fraud, including the potential for Ponzi schemes, bucket shops and pump and dump schemes. Digital assets have in the past been used to facilitate illicit activities. If a digital asset was used to facilitate illicit activities, or a digital asset, or prominent DApp or smart contract were associated with bad actors or illicit activity, businesses that facilitate transactions in such digital assets could be at increased risk of potential criminal or civil liability or lawsuits, or of having banking or other services cut off, and such digital asset could be removed from digital asset platforms. Any of the aforementioned or similar occurrences could adversely affect the price of the relevant digital asset, the attractiveness of the respective blockchain network and an investment in the Shares. If the Fund, the Sponsor or another Fund service provider were to transact with a sanctioned entity, the Fund, the Sponsor or service provider would be at risk of potential criminal or civil lawsuits or liability.
The Fund takes measures with the objective of reducing illicit financing risks in connection with the Fund's activities. However, illicit financing risks are present in the digital asset markets, including markets for ether. There can be no assurance that the measures employed by the Fund will prove successful in reducing illicit financing risks, and the Fund is subject to the complex illicit financing risks and vulnerabilities present in the digital asset markets. If such risks materialize, the Fund, the Sponsor or other key service providers and/or their affiliates could face civil or criminal liability, fines, penalties, or other punishments, be subject to investigation, have their assets frozen, lose access to banking services or services provided by other service providers, or suffer disruptions to their operations, any of which could negatively affect the Fund’s ability to operate or cause losses in value of the Shares.
In accordance with applicable regulation, affiliates of the Sponsor have adopted and implemented policies and procedures that are designed to comply with applicable anti-money laundering laws and sanctions laws and regulations, including applicable know your customer (“KYC”) laws and regulations. The Sponsor and the Fund will only interact with known third-party service providers with respect to whom the Sponsor or its affiliates have engaged in a thorough due diligence process and or a thorough KYC process, such as the Authorized Participants, the Prime Broker and Ether Custodian. Each Authorized Participant must undergo onboarding by the Sponsor prior to placing creation or redemption orders with respect to the Fund. As a result, the Sponsor has in place processes and controls designed to ensure that a situation would not arise where the Fund would engage in transactions with a counterparty whose identity the Sponsor and the Fund did not know. The risk remains, however, given the nature of crypto assets and blockchain technology, that transactions will be sent to the Fund from a counterparty whose identity is unknown in an unsolicited "dusting" attack by a third party.
Furthermore, Authorized Participants, as broker-dealers, and the Prime Broker and Ether Custodian, as an entity licensed to conduct virtual currency business activity by the New York Department of Financial Services and a limited purpose trust company subject to New York Banking Law, respectively, are “financial institutions” subject to the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, as amended (“BSA”), and U.S. economic sanctions laws. The Fund will only accept creation and redemption requests from Authorized Participants and trade with ether counterparties who have each represented to the Fund that they have implemented compliance programs that are designed to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions and anti-money laundering laws. The Fund will not hold any ether except those that have been purchased on behalf of the Fund via the Prime Broker or other executing agent/broker in connection with creations and redemptions. Moreover, the Prime Broker has represented to the Fund that it has implemented and will maintain and follow compliance programs that are designed to comply with applicable sanctions and anti-money laundering laws and that it performs both initial and ongoing due diligence on each of its customers as well as ongoing transaction monitoring that is designed to identify and report suspicious activity conducted through customer accounts, including those opened by the Authorized Participants or their agents/partners for purposes of facilitating ether deposits to, and withdrawals from, the Fund’s Trading Balance, as required by law.
The Prime Broker and Ether Custodian have adopted and implemented anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs, which provides additional protections designed to prevent the Sponsor and the Fund from transacting with a sanctioned party. The Prime Broker performs screening using blockchain analytics to identify, detect, and mitigate the risk of transacting with a sanctioned or other unlawful actor. Pursuant to the Prime Broker’s blockchain analytics screening program, any ether that is delivered to the Fund’s account will undergo screening designed to assess whether the origins of that ether are illicit.
The Prime Broker conducts screening on transactions by an Authorized Participant to determine whether transactions are in violation of certain applicable sanctions laws. The Prime Broker and its affiliates, including the Ether Custodian, will (a) block or reject the deposit into the Fund’s Trading Account, where required by applicable sanctions laws, and (b) agree to promptly inform the Fund of its actions, so long as permitted by applicable law. However, there is no guarantee that such procedures will always be effective or that the Prime Broker and its affiliates will always perform their obligations. Such screening may also result in a transaction identified by such screening being blocked or frozen by the Prime Broker, and thus made unavailable to the Fund. Moreover, the Custodian Agreement requires the Fund to withdraw and deposit assets to public blockchain addresses and accounts for which the Fund has conducted the necessary “know your customer” and anti-money laundering due diligence. Although the Fund arranges for such diligence to be performed, including by the Fund’s service providers, there is no guarantee such diligence will prove effective in identifying all possible sources of illicit financing risks. If the Authorized Participants, have inadequate policies, procedures and controls for complying with applicable anti-money laundering and applicable sanctions laws or the Fund’s procedures or diligence prove to be ineffective, violations of such laws could result, which could result in regulatory liability for the Fund, the Sponsor or other Fund service providers or their respective affiliates under such laws, including governmental fines, penalties, and other punishments, as well as potential liability to or cessation of services by the Prime Broker and its affiliates, including the Ether Custodian, under the Prime Broker Agreement and Custodian Agreement. Any of the foregoing could result in losses to the Shareholders or negatively affect the Fund’s ability to operate.
Regulatory changes or interpretations could obligate an Authorized Participant, the Fund, the Trust, or the Sponsor or other Fund service providers to register and comply with new regulations, resulting in potentially extraordinary, nonrecurring expenses to the Fund.
Current and future federal or state legislation, CFTC and SEC rulemaking and other regulatory developments may impact the manner in which Ether are treated. For example, the current draft of the CLARITY Act would add "digital commodities" to the list of assets that are commodity interests under the CEA. The CLARITY Act could give the CFTC greater power to regulate the spot digital asset market. It is possible that, if the legislation is passed, it could require the Trust, the Sponsor, or other service providers to register with the CFTC. These additional requirements may result in extraordinary, recurring and/or nonrecurring expenses of the Trust, thereby materially and adversely impacting the Shares. If the Sponsor determines not to comply with such additional regulatory and registration requirements, the Sponsor will terminate the Trust. Any such termination could result in the liquidation of the Trust's ether at a time that is disadvantageous to shareholders. Additionally, ether may be classified by the SEC as a “security” under U.S. federal securities laws. Congress is currently considering legislation, such as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (“CLARITY Act”), which could give the CFTC greater power to regulate the spot digital asset market. It is possible that, if the legislation is passed, it could require the Trust, the Sponsor, or other service providers to register with the CFTC. These additional requirements may result in extraordinary, recurring and/or nonrecurring expenses of the Trust, thereby materially and adversely impacting the Shares. If the Sponsor determines not to comply with such additional regulatory and registration requirements, the Sponsor will terminate the Trust. Any such termination could result in the liquidation of the Trust’s ether at a time that is disadvantageous to shareholders. The Sponsor and the Fund cannot be certain as to how future regulatory developments will impact the treatment of ether under the law. In the face of such developments, the required registrations and compliance steps may result in extraordinary, nonrecurring expenses to the Fund. If the Sponsor decides to terminate the Fund in response to the changed regulatory circumstances, the Fund may be terminated or liquidated at a time that is disadvantageous to Shareholders.
To the extent that ether is deemed to fall within the definition of a “commodity interest” under the CEA, the Fund and the Sponsor may be subject to additional regulation under the CEA and CFTC regulations. The Sponsor may be required to register as a commodity pool operator or commodity trading adviser with the CFTC and become a member of the National Futures Association (“NFA”) and may be subject to additional regulatory requirements with respect to the Fund, including disclosure and reporting requirements. These additional requirements may result in extraordinary, recurring and/or nonrecurring expenses of the Fund, thereby materially and adversely impacting the Shares. If the Sponsor determines it is not feasible or desirable to comply with such additional regulatory and registration requirements, the Sponsor will likely terminate the Fund. Any such termination could result in the liquidation of the Fund’s ether at a time that is disadvantageous to Shareholders.
To the extent that ether is deemed to fall within the definition of a security under U.S. federal securities laws, the Fund, the Trustee and the Sponsor may be subject to additional requirements under the Investment Company Act and the Sponsor may be required to register as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act. Such additional registration may result in extraordinary, recurring and/or non‑recurring expenses of the Fund, thereby materially and adversely impacting the Shares. If the Sponsor determines it is not feasible or desirable to comply with such additional regulatory and registration requirements, the Sponsor will likely terminate the Fund. Any such termination could result in the liquidation of the Fund’s ether at a time that is disadvantageous to Shareholders.
In March 2018, it was reported that the SEC was examining as many as 100 investment funds with strategies focused on digital assets. The reported focus of the examinations is on the accuracy of risk disclosures to investors in these funds, digital asset pricing practices, and compliance with rules meant to prevent the theft of investor funds, as well as on information gathering so that the SEC can better understand new technologies and investment products. It has further been reported that some of these funds received subpoenas from the SEC’s Enforcement Division. The SEC also has determined that certain digital assets are securities under the U.S. securities laws. In these determinations, the SEC reasoned that the unregistered offer and sale of digital assets can, in certain circumstances, including ICOs, be considered illegal public offering of securities. A significant amount of funding for digital asset startups has come from ICOs, and if ICOs are halted or face regulatory obstacles, or companies that rely on them face legal action or investigation, it could have a negative impact on the value of digital assets, including ether. However, the SEC’s “Crypto Task Force” has indicated that it is re-examining how digital assets are considered “securities” under the federal securities laws and has issued guidance clarifying the status of certain digital assets related activities for this purpose. In addition, the SEC’s Division of Examinations identified digital assets as an examination priority for 2025, noting its intent to focus on the offer, sale, recommendation, advice, trading, and other activities involving digital assets that are offered and sold as securities or related products, such as spot bitcoin or ether ETPs.
The SEC has taken steps to interpret its existing frameworks and authority with respect to digital asset activities. For example, the SEC has previously proposed amendments to the custody rules under Rule 206(4)-2 of the Investment Advisers Act. The proposed rule changes would amend the definition of a “qualified custodian” under Rule 206(4)-2(d)(6) and expand the current custody rule in 206(4)-2 to cover all digital assets, including ether, and related advisory activities. If enacted as proposed, these rules would likely impose additional regulatory requirements with respect to the custody and storage of digital assets, including ether. The Sponsor is studying the impact that such amendments may have on the Fund and its arrangements with the Ether Custodian and Prime Broker. It is possible that such amendments, if adopted, could prevent the Ether Custodian and Prime Broker from serving as service providers to the Fund, or require potentially significant modifications to existing arrangements under the Custody Agreement and Prime Broker Agreement, which could cause the Fund to bear potentially significant increased costs. If the Sponsor is unable to make such modifications or appoint successor service providers to fill the roles that the Ether Custodian and Prime Broker currently play, the Fund’s operations (including in relation to creations and redemptions of Creation Units and the holding of ether) could be negatively affected, the Fund could be terminated (including at a time that is potentially disadvantageous to Shareholders), and the value of the Shares or an investment in the Fund could be affected. It is also possible that Congress could enact new legislation related to digital assets which could have a material impact on the Fund’s operations or the value of ether and the Shares.
For example, legislative or regulatory action that makes it more difficult for investors to gain access to ether or causes certain holders of ether to sell their holdings could have a significant negative impact on the price of ether and therefore the value of the Shares if enacted.
The treatment of the Fund for U.S. federal income tax purposes is uncertain.
The Sponsor will treat the Fund as a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Although not free from doubt due to the lack of directly governing authority, if the Fund operates as expected, the Fund should be classified as a “grantor trust” for U.S. federal income tax purposes (and the following discussion assumes such classification). Assuming that the Fund is a grantor trust, the Fund will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax. Instead, each beneficial owner of Shares will be treated as directly owning its pro rata share of the Fund's assets and a pro rata portion of the Fund's income, gains, losses and deductions will “flow through” to each beneficial owner of Shares.
The Fund may take certain positions with respect to the tax consequences of Incidental Rights and its receipt of IR Virtual Currency. If the IRS were to disagree with, and successfully challenge any of these positions the Fund might not qualify as a grantor trust.
Because of the evolving nature of digital currencies, it is not possible to predict potential future developments that may arise with respect to digital currencies, including forks, airdrops and other similar occurrences. Assuming that the Fund is currently a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes, certain future developments could render it impossible, or impracticable, for the Fund to continue to be treated as a grantor trust for such purposes.
If the Fund is not properly classified as a grantor trust, the Fund might be classified as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, due to the uncertain treatment of digital currency (including ether) for U.S. federal income tax purposes, there can be no assurance in this regard. If the Fund were classified as a partnership and not a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the tax consequences of owning Shares generally would not be materially different from the tax consequences described herein, although there might be certain differences, including with respect to timing of the recognition of taxable income or loss and (in certain circumstances) withholding taxes. In addition, tax information reports provided to beneficial owners of Shares would be made in a different form. If the Fund were not classified as either a grantor trust or a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it generally would be classified as a corporation for such purposes (including if the Fund were considered a publicly traded partnership taxable as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes). If it were treated as a corporation, the Fund would be subject to entity-level U.S. federal income tax (currently at the rate of 21%), plus possible state and/or local taxes, on its net taxable income, and certain distributions made by the Fund to Shareholders would be treated as taxable dividends to the extent of the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits. Any such dividend distributed to a beneficial owner of Shares that is a non-U.S. person for U.S. federal income tax purposes generally would be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax at a rate of 30% (or such lower rate as may be provided in an applicable tax treaty).
On November 10, 2025, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2025-31, providing formal guidance addressing how trusts that qualify as investment trusts under Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-4 (c) and grantor trusts for Federal income tax purposes can engage in digital asset staking without jeopardizing their favorable tax treatment. The Revenue Procedure does not provide a substantive rule of law but does provide a safe harbor for grantor trust that include staking as a permitted activity. The Revenue Procedure provides that if the safe harbor is met, a trust's authorization, pursuant to its trust agreement, to stake its digital assets and the resulting staking of the trust's digital assets do not prevent the trust from qualifying for Federal income tax purposes as a trust classified as an investment trust under Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-4 (c) and as a grantor trust. The Trust may not be able to satisfy all of the requirements of the safe harbor provided in the Revenue Procedure but intends to come as close as possible within the Trust's organizational documents. The Trust is relying upon an opinion of tax counsel concluding that, without regard to the Revenue Procedure, the Trust should be classified as a grantor trust and an investment trust under Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-4 (c).
The treatment of digital currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes is uncertain.
Assuming that the Fund is properly treated as a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes, each beneficial owner of Shares will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as the owner of an undivided interest in the ether (and, if applicable, any Incidental Rights and/or IR Virtual Currency) held in the Fund. Due to the new and evolving nature of digital currencies and the absence of comprehensive guidance with respect to digital currencies, many significant aspects of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of digital currency are uncertain.
In 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released a notice (the “Notice”) discussing certain aspects of “convertible virtual currency” (that is, digital currency that has an equivalent value in fiat currency or that acts as a substitute for fiat currency) for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, in particular, stating that such digital currency (i) is “property” (ii) is not “currency” for purposes of the rules relating to foreign currency gain or loss and (iii) may be held as a capital asset. In 2019, the IRS released a revenue ruling and a set of “Frequently Asked Questions” (the “Ruling & FAQs”) that provide some additional guidance, including guidance to the effect that, under certain circumstances, hard forks of digital currencies are taxable events giving rise to ordinary income and guidance with respect to the determination of the tax basis of digital currency. However, the Notice and the Ruling & FAQs do not address other significant aspects of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of digital currencies. Moreover, although the Ruling & FAQs address the treatment of hard forks, there continues to be uncertainty with respect to the timing and amount of the income inclusions.
Chief Counsel Memorandum 202316008 clarified that a taxpayer holding a digital asset does not have a realization event solely as the result of a protocol upgrade.
Future developments that may arise with respect to digital currencies may increase the uncertainty with respect to the treatment of digital currencies for U.S. federal income tax purposes. For example, the Notice addresses only digital currency that is “convertible virtual currency,” and it is conceivable that, as a result of a fork, airdrop or similar occurrence, the Fund will hold certain types of digital currency that are not within the scope of the Notice.
As noted above, the Fund does not intend to hold assets other than ether and cash and accordingly, with respect to any airdrop of any non-ether crypto asset, including Incidental Rights and/or IR Virtual Currency, or in the event of a fork where it has been determined, in the discretion of the Sponsor, that the crypto asset received by the Fund is not ether, or any similar event, the Sponsor will cause the Fund to irrevocably abandon such non-ether crypto asset and, in the event that the Fund seeks to change this position, an application would need to be filed with the SEC by Cboe BZX Exchange, the listing exchange, seeking approval to amend its listing rules. For the avoidance of doubt, the only crypto asset to be held by the Fund will be ether; the Fund does not have the ability or intention to hold any other crypto asset, and specific regulatory approval would be required in order to do so.
There can be no assurance that the IRS will not alter its position with respect to digital currencies in the future or that a court would uphold the treatment set forth in the Notice and the Ruling & FAQs. It is also unclear what additional guidance on the treatment of digital currencies for U.S. federal income tax purposes may be issued in the future. Any future guidance on the treatment of digital currencies for U.S. federal income tax purposes could increase the expenses of the Fund and could have an adverse effect on the prices of digital currencies, including on the price of ether in the digital asset markets. As a result, any such future guidance could have an adverse effect on the value of the Shares.
Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisers regarding the tax consequences of owning and disposing of Shares and digital currencies in general.
Future developments regarding the treatment of digital currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
As discussed above, many significant aspects of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of digital currency, such as ether, are uncertain, and it is unclear what guidance on the treatment of digital currency for U.S. federal income tax purposes may be issued in the future. It is possible that any such guidance would have an adverse effect on the prices of digital currency, including on the price of ether in digital asset platforms, and therefore may have an adverse effect on the value of the Shares.
Because of the evolving nature of digital currencies, it is not possible to predict potential future developments that may arise with respect to digital currencies, including forks, airdrops and similar occurrences. Such developments may increase the uncertainty with respect to the treatment of digital currencies for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Moreover, certain future developments could render it impossible, or impracticable, for the Fund to continue to be treated as a grantor trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Future developments in the treatment of digital currency for tax purposes other than U.S. federal income tax purposes could adversely affect the value of the Shares.
The taxing authorities of certain states, including New York and New Jersey, (i) have announced that they will follow the Notice with respect to the treatment of digital currencies for state income tax purposes and/or (ii) have issued guidance exempting the purchase and/or sale of digital currencies for fiat currency from state sales tax. Other states have not issued any guidance on these points, and could take different positions (e.g., imposing sales taxes on purchases and sales of digital currencies for fiat currency), and states that have issued guidance on their tax treatment of digital currencies could update or change their tax treatment of digital currencies. It is unclear what further guidance on the treatment of digital currencies for state or local tax purposes may be issued in the future. A state or local government authority’s treatment of ether may have negative consequences, including the imposition of a greater tax burden on investors in ether or the imposition of a greater cost on the acquisition and disposition of ether generally.
The treatment of digital currencies for tax purposes by non‑U.S. jurisdictions may differ from the treatment of digital currencies for U.S. federal, state or local tax purposes. It is possible, for example, that a non‑U.S. jurisdiction would impose sales tax or value-added tax on purchases and sales of digital currencies for fiat currency. If a foreign jurisdiction with a significant share of the market of ether users imposes onerous tax burdens on digital currency users, or imposes sales or value-added tax on purchases and sales of digital currency for fiat currency, such actions could result in decreased demand for ether in such jurisdiction.
Any future guidance on the treatment of digital currencies for state, local or non‑U.S. tax purposes could increase the expenses of the Fund and could have an adverse effect on the prices of digital currencies, including on the price of ether in digital asset platforms. As a result, any such future guidance could have an adverse effect on the value of the Shares.
A U.S. Tax-Exempt Shareholder may recognize “unrelated business taxable income” as a consequence of an investment in Shares.
Under the guidance provided in the Ruling & FAQs, hard forks, airdrops and similar occurrences with respect to digital currencies will under certain circumstances be treated as taxable events giving rise to ordinary income. In the absence of guidance to the contrary, it is possible that any such income recognized by a U.S. Tax-Exempt Shareholder (as defined under “U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” in the Prospectus) would constitute “unrelated business taxable income” (“UBTI”). Tax-exempt Shareholders should consult their tax advisers regarding whether such Shareholder may recognize UBTI as a consequence of an investment in Shares.
Shareholders could incur a tax liability without an associated distribution of the Fund.
In the normal course of business, it is possible that the Fund could incur a taxable gain in connection with the sale of ether (such as sales of ether, including to obtain fiat currency with which to pay the Sponsor’s Fee or Fund expenses, as well as deemed sales of ether as a result of the Fund using ether to pay the Sponsor’s Fee or its expenses) that is otherwise not associated with a distribution to Shareholders. Shareholders may be subject to tax due to the grantor trust status of the Fund even though there is not a corresponding distribution from the Fund.
A hard “fork” of the Ethereum blockchain could result in Shareholders incurring a tax liability.
If a hard fork occurs in the Ethereum blockchain, the Fund could temporarily hold both the original ether and the alternative new ether. The IRS has held that a hard fork resulting in the creation of new units of cryptocurrency is a taxable event giving rise to ordinary income. Moreover, if such an event occurs, the Declaration of Trust provides that the Sponsor shall have the discretion to determine whether the original or the alternative asset shall constitute ether. The Fund shall treat whichever asset the Sponsor determines is not ether as Incidental Rights or IR Virtual Currency.
The Ruling & FAQs do not address whether income recognized by a non-U.S. person as a result of a fork, airdrop or similar occurrence could be subject to the 30% withholding tax imposed on U.S.-source “fixed or determinable annual or periodical” income. Non-U.S. Shareholders (as defined under “U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” in the Prospectus) should assume that, in the absence of guidance, a withholding agent (including the Sponsor) is likely to withhold 30% of any such income recognized by a Non-U.S. Shareholder in respect of its Shares, including by deducting such withheld amounts from proceeds that such Non-U.S. Shareholder would otherwise be entitled to receive in connection with a distribution of Incidental Rights or IR Virtual Currency.
The receipt, distribution and/or sale of the alternative ether may cause Shareholders to incur a United States federal, state, and/or local, or non-U.S., tax liability. Any tax liability could adversely impact an investment in the Shares and may require Shareholders to prepare and file tax returns they would not otherwise be required to prepare and file.
Chief Counsel Memorandum 202316008 clarified that a taxpayer holding a digital asset does not have a realization event solely as the result of a protocol upgrade.
Risk Factors Related to Potential Conflicts of Interest
Potential conflicts of interest may arise among the Sponsor or its affiliates and the Fund. The Sponsor and its affiliates have no fiduciary duties to the Fund or its Shareholders, which may permit them to favor their own interests to the detriment of the Fund and its Shareholders.
The Sponsor will manage the affairs of the Fund. Conflicts of interest may arise among the Sponsor and its affiliates, on the one hand, and the Fund and its Shareholders, on the other hand. As a result of these conflicts, the Sponsor may favor its own interests and the interests of its affiliates over the Fund and its Shareholders. These potential conflicts include, among others, the following:
●
the Sponsor has no fiduciary duties to, and is allowed to take into account the interests of parties other than, the Fund and its Shareholders in resolving conflicts of interest, provided the Sponsor does not act in bad faith;
●
the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has agreed to indemnify the officers, affiliates, directors, employees or agents of the Trustee and the shareholders, members, directors, officers, employees, affiliates and subsidiaries of the Sponsor pursuant to the Declaration of Trust;
●
the Sponsor is responsible for allocating its own limited resources (including the time and attention of management and business development) among different clients and potential future business ventures, to each of which it may owe fiduciary duties;
●
the Sponsor and its staff also service affiliates of the Sponsor and their respective clients, and may also service other digital asset investment vehicles (including serving as the sponsor of other digital asset related exchange-traded products such as the Franklin Bitcoin ETF, Franklin Crypto Index ETF, Franklin XRP ETF, and Franklin Solana ETF), and cannot devote all of its, or their, respective time or resources to the management of the affairs of the Fund;
●
the Sponsor’s trading decisions for the Fund may be influenced by the effect they would have on the on the other funds and accounts it manages;
●
the Sponsor, its affiliates and their officers and employees are not prohibited from engaging in other businesses or activities, including those that might be in direct competition with the Fund;
●
affiliates of the Sponsor may have substantial direct investments in ether, stablecoins (such as USDC), or other digital assets or companies in the digital assets ecosystem that they are permitted to manage taking into account their own interests without regard to the interests of the Fund or its Shareholders, and any increases, decreases or other changes in such investments could affect the Index price and, in turn, the value of the Shares;
●
The Sponsor’s and its affiliates’ positions on changes that should be adopted in various digital asset networks could be adverse to positions that would benefit the Fund or its shareholders. Additionally, before or after a hard fork on the network of a digital asset held by the Fund, the Sponsor’s and its affiliates’ positions regarding which fork among a group of incompatible forks of such network should be considered the “true” network could be adverse to positions that would most benefit the Fund;
●
the Sponsor decides whether to retain separate counsel, accountants or others to perform services for the Fund, including vendors with respect to valuation of the Fund’s assets; and
●
the Sponsor may appoint an agent to act on behalf of the Shareholders, which may be the Sponsor or an affiliate of the Sponsor.
By purchasing the Shares, Shareholders agree and consent to the provisions set forth in the Declaration of Trust.
Investment vehicles advised or managed by affiliates of the Sponsor may, from time to time, hold an interest in Coinbase Global, the parent of Coinbase Inc., which serves as the Fund's Prime Broker and operates one of the digital asset platforms included in the Index price and is the parent of the Ether Custodian.
Investment vehicles advised or managed by affiliates of the Sponsor own shares in many public companies listed in the United States, and may take positions in Coinbase Global, the publicly traded parent of Coinbase Inc. which operates the Coinbase platform and serves as the Fund's Prime Broker. The Fund values its digital assets by reference to the Index price. Coinbase is one of the digital asset platforms included in the Index. The Sponsor values its digital assets by reference to the Index price. Coinbase is one of the digital asset platforms included in the Index.
Although neither the Sponsor nor any affiliates of the Sponsor nor any investment vehicles managed or advised by any of them exercise control over Coinbase, it is possible that positions of investment vehicles managed by affiliates of the Sponsor in Coinbase may present risks to Shareholders to the extent affiliates of the Sponsor cause the Sponsor to favor Coinbase's interests over the interests of the Fund or its Shareholders with respect to, for example, fees charged, and the quality of service provided by Coinbase as Prime Broker. Similarly, investors could have concerns that the Sponsor or affiliates of the Sponsor could influence market data provided by Coinbase in a way that benefits the Sponsor, for example by artificially inflating the values of ether in order to increase the Sponsor’s fees. This could make the Fund’s Shares less attractive to investors than the shares of similar vehicles that do not present these concerns, adversely affect investor sentiment about the Fund and negatively affect Share trading prices.
Coinbase Global is also the parent company of the Ether Custodian, Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC. The Ether Custodian serves as a fiduciary and custodian on the Fund’s behalf, and is responsible for safeguarding digital assets held by the Fund, and holding the private keys that provide access to the Fund’s digital wallets and vaults. The positions of investment vehicles managed by affiliates of the Sponsor in the parent company of the Ether Custodian may present risks to Shareholders to the extent affiliates of the Sponsor cause the Sponsor to favor the Ether Custodian’s interests over the interests of the Fund or its Shareholders with respect to, for example, fees charged, and the quality of service provided by the Ether Custodian. Similarly, it is possible that investors could have concerns that the interests owned by investment vehicles managed by affiliates of the Sponsor in Coinbase could cause it to refrain from taking actions that are in the best interests of the Fund but that could harm the Ether Custodian. This could make the Fund’s Shares less attractive to investors than the shares of similar vehicles that do not present these concerns, adversely affect investor sentiment about the Fund and negatively affect Share trading prices.
Shareholders cannot be assured of the Sponsor’s continued services, the discontinuance of which may be detrimental to the Fund.
Shareholders cannot be assured that the Sponsor will be willing or able to continue to serve as sponsor to the Fund for any length of time. If the Sponsor discontinues its activities on behalf of the Fund and a substitute sponsor is not appointed, the Fund will terminate and liquidate its ether.
Appointment of a substitute sponsor will not guarantee the Fund’s continued operation, successful or otherwise. Because a substitute sponsor may have no experience managing a digital asset financial vehicle, a substitute sponsor may not have the experience, knowledge or expertise required to ensure that the Fund will operate successfully or continue to operate at all. Therefore, the appointment of a substitute sponsor may not necessarily be beneficial to the Fund and the Fund may terminate.
Although the Ether Custodian is a fiduciary with respect to the Fund’s assets, it could resign or be removed by the Sponsor, which may trigger early dissolution of the Fund.
The Ether Custodian has represented that it is a fiduciary under § 100 of the New York Banking Law and a qualified custodian for purposes of Rule 206(4)-2(d)(6) under the Advisers Act and is licensed to custody the Fund’s ether in trust on the Fund’s behalf. However, the Ether Custodian may terminate the Custodian Agreement for cause at any time, and the Ether Custodian can terminate the Custodian Agreement for any reason upon providing the applicable notice provided under the Custodian Agreement. If the Ether Custodian resigns, is removed, or is prohibited by applicable law or regulation to act as custodian, and no successor custodian has been employed, the Sponsor may terminate the Fund in accordance with the terms of the Declaration of Trust.
Coinbase serves as the Ether Custodian and prime execution agent for several competing exchange-traded ether products, which could adversely affect the Fund’s operations and ultimately the value of the Shares.
The Prime Broker and Ether Custodian are both affiliates of Coinbase Global. By virtue of the leading market position and cryptoasset custodian capabilities of Coinbase Global, and the relatively limited number of institutionally-capable providers of cryptoasset brokerage and custody services, Coinbase serves as the Ether Custodian and prime execution agent for several competing exchange-traded ether products. Therefore, Coinbase has a critical role in supporting the U.S. spot ether exchange-traded product ecosystem, and its size and market share creates the risk that Coinbase may fail to properly resource its operations to adequately support all such products that use its services that could harm the Fund, the Shareholders and the value of the Shares. If Coinbase were to favor the interests of certain products over others, it could result in inadequate attention or comparatively unfavorable commercial terms to less favored products, which could adversely affect the Fund’s operations and ultimately the value of the Shares.
Shareholders may be adversely affected by the lack of independent advisers representing investors in the Fund.
The Sponsor has consulted with counsel, accountants and other advisers regarding the formation and operation of the Fund. No counsel was appointed to represent investors in connection with the formation of the Fund or the establishment of the terms of the Declaration of Trust and the Shares. Moreover, no counsel has been appointed to represent an investor in connection with the offering of the Shares. Accordingly, an investor should consult his, her or its own legal, tax and financial advisers regarding the desirability of the value of the Shares. Lack of such consultation may lead to an undesirable investment decision with respect to investment in the Shares.
Shareholders and Authorized Participants lack the right under the Custodian Agreement to assert claims directly against the Ether Custodian, which significantly limits their options for recourse.
Neither the Shareholders nor any Authorized Participant have a right under the Custodian Agreement to assert a claim against the Ether Custodian. Claims under the Custodian Agreement may only be asserted by the Sponsor on behalf of the Fund.
Risk Factors Related to ERISA
It is possible that the underlying assets of the Fund will be deemed to include “plan assets” for the purposes of Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code. If the assets of the Fund were deemed to be “plan assets,” this could result in, among other things, (i) the application of the prudence and other fiduciary standards of ERISA to investments made by the Fund and (ii) the possibility that certain transactions in which the Fund might otherwise seek to engage in the ordinary course of its business and operation could constitute non-exempt “prohibited transactions” under Section 406 of ERISA and/or Section 4975 of the Code, which could restrict the Fund from entering into an otherwise desirable investment or from entering into an otherwise favorable transaction. In addition, fiduciaries who decide to invest in the Fund could, under certain circumstances, be liable for “prohibited transactions” or other violations as a result of their investment in the Fund or as co-fiduciaries for actions taken by or on behalf of the Fund or the Sponsor. There may be other federal, state, local, non-U.S. law or regulation that contains one or more provisions that are similar to the foregoing provisions of ERISA and the Code that may also apply to an investment in the Fund.
The application of ERISA (including the corresponding provisions of the Code and other relevant laws) may be complex and dependent upon the particular facts and circumstances of the Fund and of each Plan, and it is the responsibility of the appropriate fiduciary of each investing Plan to ensure that any investment in the Fund by such Plan is consistent with all applicable requirements. Each Shareholder, whether or not subject to Title I of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, should consult its own legal and other advisors regarding the considerations discussed above and all other relevant ERISA and other considerations before purchasing the Shares.
Cybersecurity Risk Management Strategy and Governance Overview
The Trust and the Fund do not have any officers, directors or employees. The Sponsor is responsible for the oversight and overall management of the Trust and the Fund. The Sponsor is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. (“FRI”). FRI maintains global, firm-wide policies and procedures governing matters relating to crisis management, corporate continuity, business continuity planning and disaster recovery, enterprise business resilience, and corresponding risk mitigation processes and systems in these areas (collectively referred to as the “Global Corporate Continuity Program”).
FRI has adopted the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (“NIST”) cybersecurity framework as its security outline. The program is reviewed annually. Using the NIST framework as a guide, FRI’s cybersecurity program is organized around the following program domains:
•
Identify critical assets, data, systems and capabilities, cybersecurity strategy and governing elements, threats and cybersecurity risks
•
Protect assets (data, systems, networks, personnel, etc.) from external or internal malicious actors and failed practices
•
Detect anomalies and security events through environments monitoring, analysis, remediation, and reporting. Engage outside vendors to periodically test the network infrastructure and software applications against known vulnerabilities and to ensure the use of a best practice security program
•
Respond to incidents regardless of source or causality
•
Recover through planning, improvements and communications (external and internal)
•
Conduct after-action evaluation to identify what went well, what did not go well and improve FRI’s systems after an issue
Assessment of Cybersecurity Risks
None.
From time to time, the Trust and/or the Fund may be a party to certain legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business. As of June 29, 2026, the Trust and the Fund are not subject to any material legal proceedings, nor, to our knowledge, are any material legal proceeding threatened against the Trust or Fund.
Not applicable.
Item 5.
a)
Franklin Ethereum ETF Shares are listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange under the symbol “EZET” and have been listed since July 23, 2024. As of March 31, 2026, there were approximately 63 DTC participating shareholders of record of the Trust. Because most of the Trust's Shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of shareholders represented by these record holders.
b)
Not applicable.
c)
The Fund does not purchase Shares directly from its Shareholders. In connection with its redemption of Creation Units held by Authorized Participants, the Fund redeemed 1 Creation Unit (comprising 50,000 Shares) during the quarter ended March 31, 2026. The following table summarizes the redemptions by the Authorized Participants during the period:
|
Period
|
Total Shares Redeemed | Average Price per Share | ||||||
|
January 1, 2026 - January 31, 2026
|
- | $ | - | |||||
|
February 1, 2026 - February 28, 2026
|
- | - | ||||||
|
March 1, 2026 - March 31, 2026
|
50,000 | 16.11 | ||||||
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and the notes thereto of the Trust and the Fund, included elsewhere in this annual report on Form 10-K.
Forward-Looking Information
This annual report on Form 10-K, including this “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All statements (other than statements of historical fact) included in this Form 10-K that address activities, events or developments that may occur in the future, the Trust’s and the Fund’s operations, the Sponsor’s plans and references to the Trust’s and the Fund’s future success and other similar matters are forward-looking statements. Words such as “could,” “would,” “may,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “predict,” and variations on such words or negatives thereof, and similar expressions that reflect our current views with respect to future events and Trust and Fund performance, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are only predictions, subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control, and actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed therein. We express our estimates, expectations, beliefs, and projections in good faith and believe them to have a reasonable basis. However, we make no assurances that management’s estimates, expectations, beliefs, or projections will be achieved or accomplished. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about many important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors are discussed in: Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations; Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors, and other parts of this Form 10-K. We do not intend to update any forward-looking statements even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future, except as required by the federal securities laws.
Organization and Trust Overview
The Franklin Ethereum Trust (the “Trust”) was formed as a Delaware statutory trust on February 8, 2024, and is governed by the provisions of an Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated as of May 30, 2024. The Trust is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”) and is not a commodity pool for purposes of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). The Trust currently offers a single series, the Franklin Ethereum ETF (the “Fund”), which is the sole series of the Trust. The Sponsor of the Trust and the Fund (the “Sponsor”) is Franklin Holdings, LLC. The Sponsor is not subject to regulation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) as a commodity pool operator with respect to the Fund, or a commodity trading advisor with respect to the Fund. The Fund issues shares (the “Shares”), which represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in and ownership of the Fund. The Shares of the Fund are listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX Exchange” or the “Exchange”).
On May 21, 2024, Franklin Resources Inc. (the “Seed Capital Investor”), an affiliate of the Sponsor, subject to conditions, purchased 4,000 Shares at a per-Share price equal to $25.00 (the “Initial Seed Shares”). Delivery of the Initial Seed Shares was made on May 21, 2024. Total proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Initial Seed Shares were $100,000. On June 27, 2024, the Initial Seed Shares were redeemed for $100,000 and the Seed Capital Investor purchased two creation units in a cash transaction comprised of a total of 100,000 Shares at a per-Share price based on 380 ether per Creation Unit (or 0.0076 ether per Share), for a total of 760 ether (the “Seed Creation Units”). The cash proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were used by the Fund to purchase 760 ether at the price of $3,446.37 per ether on June 27, 2024 (exclusive of transaction and other costs incurred in connection with the conversion of the cash proceeds to ether, which were paid by the Seed Capital Investor). Thus, the ultimate total proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were $2,619,241.20 (an amount representing 760 ether). As noted above, the transaction and other costs incurred in connection with the Seed Creation Units were paid by the Seed Capital Investor and not borne by the Fund.
The Fund seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of ether before payment of the Fund's expenses and liabilities. The Shares are intended to offer a convenient means of making an investment similar to an investment in ether relative to acquiring, holding and trading ether directly on a peer-to-peer or other basis or via a digital asset platform. The Shares have been designed to remove obstacles associated with the complexities and operational burdens involved in a direct investment in ether by providing an investment with a value that reflects the price of the ether owned by the Fund at such time, less the Fund's expenses. The Fund is not a proxy for a direct investment in ether. Rather, the Shares are intended to provide a cost-effective alternative means of obtaining investment exposure through the securities markets that is similar to an investment in ether. The Fund is a passive investment vehicle and is not a leveraged product. The Sponsor does not actively manage the ether held by the Fund.
The Fund issues and redeems Shares only to eligible financial institutions called Authorized Participants and only in one or more blocks of 50,000 Shares (“Creation Units”). Creation Units are redeemable only by Authorized Participants. Creation Units are issued and redeemed in exchange for cash. Individual Shares will not be redeemed by the Fund but the Shares are listed and traded on the Exchange under the ticker symbol “EZET”. The market price of the Shares may be different than the Fund’s NAV per Share. The Fund issues and redeems Shares in Creation Units on a continuous basis at the applicable NAV per Share on the transaction order date.
The Fund’s only ordinary recurring expense is the Sponsor’s fee. In exchange for the Sponsor’s fee, the Sponsor has agreed to assume the ordinary fees and expenses incurred by the Fund, including but not limited to the following: the fees charged by the Administrator, the Marketing Agent, the Custodians and the Trustee, Cboe BZX Exchange listing fees, typical maintenance and transaction fees of the DTC, SEC registration fees, printing and mailing costs, tax reporting fees, audit fees, license fees and expenses, and up to $500,000 per annum in ordinary legal fees and expenses. The Sponsor paid the costs of the Fund’s organization and the initial offering costs, and may not seek reimbursement of such costs.
The Sponsor’s fee is accrued daily at an annualized rate equal to 0.19% (i.e., 0.19%/365 days) of the net asset value of the Fund and is payable at least quarterly in arrears in U.S. dollars. The Sponsor may, at its sole discretion and from time to time, waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s fee for stated periods of time. The Sponsor is under no obligation to waive any portion of its fees and any such waiver shall create no obligation to waive any such fees during any period not covered by the waiver. The Fund will sell Ethereum as needed to pay the Sponsor’s fee. The Fund bears transaction costs, including any Ethereum network fees or other similar transaction fees, in connection with any sales of ether necessary to pay the Sponsor’s fee, as well as other Fund expenses (if any) that are not assumed by the Sponsor (expenses assumed by the Sponsor are specified above). Any Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees incurred in connection with the creation or redemption of Creation Units are borne by the Authorized Participant. The Sponsor Fees accrued for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 were $108,260. In the future, if the Sponsor decides to waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s Fee, Shareholders will be notified in a prospectus supplement, in the Fund’s periodic reports, and/or on the Fund’s website.
The Fund is an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”), subject to reduced public company reporting requirements under U.S. federal securities laws.
The NAV of the Trust is used by the Trust in its day-to-day operations to measure the net value of the Trust’s assets. The NAV is calculated on each business day and is equal to the aggregate value of the Trust’s assets less its liabilities based on the Index price. In determining the NAV of the Trust on any business day, the Administrator will calculate the price of the ether held by the Trust as of 4:00 PM ET on such day. The Administrator will also calculate the “NAV per Share” of the Trust, which equals the NAV of the Trust divided by the number of outstanding Shares. For purposes of making these calculations, a business day means any day other than a day when the Exchange is closed for regular trading.
The Administrator will rely on the Index as the index price to be used when determining NAV. However, determining the value of the Trust’s ether using the Index is not in accordance with GAAP, and therefore is not used in the Trust’s financial statements. The Trust’s ether is carried, for financial statement purposes, at fair value, as required by GAAP. The Trust determines the fair value of ether based on the price provided by the ether market that the Trust considers its “principal market” as of 11:59:59 PM, ET on the valuation date (the “Principal Market Price”). The net asset value of the Trust determined on a GAAP basis is referred to as the “Principal Market NAV” and the net asset value of the Trust per Share determined on a GAAP basis is referred to as the “Principal Market NAV per Share.”
The Sponsor identifies and determines the Fund's principal market (or in the absence of a principal market, the most advantageous market) for ether consistent with the application of fair value measurement framework in FASB ASC 820-10. The principal market is the market where the reporting entity would normally enter into a transaction to sell the asset or transfer the liability. The principal market must be available to and be accessible to the reporting entity. The reporting entity is the Trust, on behalf of the Fund. Under ASC 820-10, a principal market is generally the market with the greatest volume and activity level for the asset or liability. The determination of the principal market will generally be based on the market with the greatest volume and level of activity that can be accessed.
NAV and NAV per Share are not measures calculated in accordance with GAAP and are not intended as substitute for Principal Market and Principal Market NAV per Share, respectively.
Critical Accounting Policies
The Trust’s and the Fund’s financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial statements relies on estimates and assumptions that impact the Fund’s as well as the Trust’s financial position and results of operations. These estimates and assumptions affect the Fund’s as well as the Trust’s application of accounting policies. Please refer to Note 2 to the financial statements included in this report for further discussion of the Trust’s and the Fund’s accounting policies.
Discussion of Operations (Financing Activities)
On May 21, 2024, Franklin Resources Inc. (the “Seed Capital Investor”), an affiliate of the Sponsor, subject to conditions, purchased 4,000 Shares at a per-Share price equal to $25.00 (the “Initial Seed Shares”). Delivery of the Initial Seed Shares was made on May 21, 2024. Total proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Initial Seed Shares were $100,000. On June 27, 2024, the Initial Seed Shares were redeemed for $100,000 and the Seed Capital Investor purchased two creation units in a cash transaction comprised of a total of 100,000 Shares at a per-Share price based on 380 ether per Creation Unit (or 0.0076 ether per Share), for a total of 760 ether (the “Seed Creation Units”). The cash proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were used by the Fund to purchase 760 ether at the price of $3,446.37 per ether on June 27, 2024 (exclusive of transaction and other costs incurred in connection with the conversion of the cash proceeds to ether, which were paid by the Seed Capital Investor). Thus, the ultimate total proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were $2,619,241.20 (an amount representing 760 ether). Further, the transaction and other costs incurred in connection with the Seed Creation Units were paid by the Seed Capital Investor and not borne by the Fund. The Seed Capital Investor acted as a statutory underwriter with respect to the Seed Creation Units. Shares of the Fund were first listed and began trading on July 23, 2024.
At March 31, 2026, the Custodian held 20,095.4606 ether on behalf of the Fund, with a market value of $42,237,443 (cost: $69,199,790) based on the Principal Market Price at the March 31, 2026 fiscal year end.
At March 31, 2025, the Custodian held 11,780.2062 ether on behalf of the Fund, with a market value of $21,614,322 (cost: $37,851,948) based on the Principal Market Price at the March 31, 2025 fiscal year end.
Results of Operations for the Year Ended March 31, 2026
For the year ended March 31, 2026, 2,850,000 Shares were issued in exchange for 21,636.6183 ether and 1,750,000 Shares were redeemed in exchange for 13,282.9028 ether. The Fund’s NAV per Share began the period at $13.94 and ended the period at $15.94. The 14.32% increase in the Fund's NAV from $13.94 at March 31, 2025 to $15.94 at March 31, 2026 is primarily related to the 14.55% increase in the price of ether. The Fund’s NAV increased slightly less than the price of ether on a percentage basis due to the Sponsor’s fee of $108,260 for the period.
Net realized and unrealized loss on investment in ether for the period ended March 31, 2026, was approximately $7,978,098 which includes a net realized gain on investment in ether of $2,746,623 and net change in unrealized depreciation on investment in ether of approximately $10,724,721. Net realized and unrealized loss on investment in ether for the period was driven by ether price appreciation from $1,834.80 per ether as of March 31, 2025 to $2,101.84 per ether as of March 31, 2026. Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations was approximately $8,086,358 for the period ended March 31, 2026, which consisted of the net realized and unrealized loss on investment in ether of $7,978,098 and net Sponsor Fee of $108,260. Net assets increased to approximately $42,230,665 on March 31, 2026. The increase in net assets primarily resulted from the aforementioned ether price movement and net capital share transactions of approximately $28,711,625.
Results of Operations for the period July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) to March 31, 2025
For the period from July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) to March 31, 2025, 1,750,000 Shares were issued in exchange for 13,300.0000 ether and 300,000 Shares were redeemed in exchange for 2,279.7938 ether. The Fund’s NAV per Share began the period at $26.21 and ended the period at $13.94. The 46.81% decrease in the Fund's NAV from $26.21 as of July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) to $13.94 at March 31, 2025 is primarily related to the 46.80% decrease in the price of ether.
Net realized and unrealized loss on investment in ether for the period ended March 31, 2025, was approximately $17,233,952 which includes a net realized loss on investment in ether of $995,550 and net change in unrealized depreciation on investment in ether of approximately $16,238,402. Net realized and unrealized loss on investment in ether for the period was driven by ether price depreciation from $3,448.77 per ether for the period from July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) to $1,834.80 per ether as of March 31, 2025. Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations was approximately $17,242,876 for the period ended March 31, 2025, which consisted of the net realized and unrealized loss on investment in ether of $17,233,952 and net Sponsor Fee of $8,924. Net assets increased to approximately $21,605,398 on March 31, 2025. The increase in net assets primarily resulted from the aforementioned ether price movement and net capital share transactions of approximately $36,227,209.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Fund is not aware of any trends, demands, commitments, events, or uncertainties that are reasonably likely to result in material changes to its liquidity needs.
The Fund’s only ordinary recurring expense is the Sponsor’s fee. In exchange for the Sponsor’s fee, the Sponsor has agreed to assume the ordinary fees and expenses incurred by the Fund, including but not limited to the following: the fees charged by the Administrator, the Marketing Agent, the Custodians and the Trustee, Cboe BZX Exchange listing fees, typical maintenance and transaction fees of the DTC, SEC registration fees, printing and mailing costs, tax reporting fees, audit fees, license fees and expenses, and up to $500,000 per annum in ordinary legal fees and expenses. The Sponsor paid the costs of the Fund’s organization and the initial offering costs, and may not seek reimbursement of such costs. The Sponsor is not required to pay any extraordinary or non-routine expenses.
The Sponsor’s fee is accrued daily at an annualized rate equal to 0.19% (i.e., 0.19%/365 days) of the net asset value of the Fund and is payable at least quarterly in arrears in U.S. dollars. The Sponsor may, at its sole discretion and from time to time, waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s fee for stated periods of time. The Sponsor is under no obligation to waive any portion of its fees and any such waiver shall create no obligation to waive any such fees during any period not covered by the waiver. The Fund will sell ether as needed to pay the Sponsor’s fee. In the future, if the Sponsor decides to waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s Fee, Shareholders will be notified in a prospectus supplement or on the Sponsor’s website for the Fund.
The Fund will sell ether on an as-needed basis to pay the Sponsor’s fee. The Fund bears transaction costs, including any Ethereum network fees or other similar transaction fees, in connection with any sales of ether necessary to pay the Sponsor’s fee, as well as other Fund expenses (if any) that are not assumed by the Sponsor (expenses assumed by the Sponsor are specified above). Any Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees incurred in connection with the creation or redemption of Creation Units are borne by the Authorized Participant.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
At March 31, 2026 and 2025, the Fund as well as the Trust did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.
Analysis of Movements in the Price of Ether
As movements in the price of Ether are expected to directly affect the price of the Fund’s shares, it is important for investors to understand and follow movements in the price of Ether. Past movements in the Ether price are not indicators of future movements.
The following chart shows movements in the price of Ether based on the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate – New York Variant for the Ether – U.S. Dollar trading pair (the “CF Benchmarks Index”) in U.S. dollars per unit over the period from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026.
The average, high, low and end-of-period Ether prices based on the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate - New York Variant for the period are as below:
|
Period
|
Average
|
High
|
Date
|
Low
|
Date
|
End of period(1)
|
Last business day
|
|
April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026
|
3,006.90
|
4,819.79
|
August 22, 2025
|
1,464.92
|
April 8, 2025
|
2,097.12
|
March 31, 2026
|
(1)
The end of period Ether price is the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate - New York Variant on the last business day of the period.
The Fund is a passive investment vehicle and is not a leveraged product. The Sponsor does not actively manage the ether held by the Fund. This means that the Sponsor does not sell ether at times when its price is high or acquire ether at low prices in the expectation of future price increases. The Fund will not utilize leverage, derivatives or similar instruments or transactions in seeking to meet its investment objective. The investment objective of the Fund is to seek to reflect generally the performance of the price of ether before payment of the Fund's expenses and liabilities. Fluctuations in the price of ether will affect the value of the Fund's shares.
The following summarized (unaudited) quarterly financial information presents the results of operations and other data for the three-month periods ended June 30, September 30, December 31, 2025 and the three-month period and year ended March 31, 2026:
|
Three Months ended June 30, 2025
| Three Months ended September 30, 2025 | Three Months ended December 31, 2025 | Three Months ended March 31, 2026 | Year ended March 31, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||
|
Net investment income (loss)
|
$ | (13,393 | ) | $ | (36,550 | ) | $ | (35,569 | ) | $ | (22,748 | ) | $ | (108,260 | ) | |||||
|
Net realized and change in unrealized gain (loss)
|
7,200,320 | 26,892,862 | (24,485,232 | ) | (17,586,048 | ) | (7,978,098 | ) | ||||||||||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations
|
7,186,927 | 26,856,312 | (24,520,801 | ) | (17,608,796 | ) | (8,086,358 | ) | ||||||||||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in Principal Market NAV
|
$ | 4.25 | $ | 10.56 | $ | (8.67 | ) | $ | (6.65 | ) | $ | (3.33 | ) |
None.
Conclusion Regarding the Effectiveness of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
The Trust maintains disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in its Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer of the Sponsor, who perform functions similar to those a principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the Trust would perform if the Trust had officers, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Under the supervision and with the participation of the Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer of the Sponsor, the Sponsor conducted an evaluation of the Trust’s disclosure controls and procedures, as defined under Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e) as of March 31, 2026 and concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures operated effectively at reasonable levels of assurance.
The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, maintains disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the Trust’s Exchange Act reports with respect to the Fund is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer of the Sponsor, who perform functions similar to those a principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the Trust would perform if the Trust had officers, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Under the supervision and with the participation of the Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer of the Sponsor, the Sponsor conducted an evaluation of the Trust’s disclosure controls and procedures with respect to the Fund, as defined under Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e) as of March 31, 2026 and concluded that the disclosure controls and procedures operated effectively at reasonable levels of assurance.
There are inherent limitations to the effectiveness of any system of disclosure controls and procedures, including the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of the controls and procedures.
Change in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in the Trust’s and the Fund’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fourth fiscal quarter covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Trust’s and the Fund’s internal control over financial reporting.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
The Sponsor's management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined under Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f). The Trust's and the Fund's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that: (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the Trust's and the Fund's assets; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that the Trust's and the Fund's receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with appropriate authorizations; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the Trust's and the Fund's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become ineffective because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
The Principal Executive Officer and the Principal Financial Officer of the Sponsor assessed the effectiveness of the Trust's and the Fund's internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2026. In making this assessment, they used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control --Integrated Framework (2013). Their assessment included an evaluation of the design of the Trust's and the Fund's internal control over financial reporting and testing of the operational effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting. Based on their assessment and those criteria, Management, including the Principal Executive Officer and the Principal Financial Officer of the Sponsor concluded that the Trust and the Fund maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2026.
This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of the registrant's registered public accounting firm due to an exemption established by rules of the SEC.
Each of the Sarbanes-Oxley certifications included as exhibits to this filing apply with respect to both the operations of both the Fund, as the sole series of the Trust, and the Trust as registrant.
No officers or directors of the Sponsor have adopted terminated
Not applicable.
PART III
The Trust does not have any directors, officers, or employees. The following persons, in their respective capacities as directors or executive officers of the Sponsor, a Delaware limited liability company, perform certain functions with respect to the Trust that, if the Trust had directors or executive officers, would typically be performed by them.
David Mann – President and Chief Executive Officer
Christopher Kings – Chief Financial Officer
Christopher Berarducci – Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer
Todd Mathias – Vice President
Julie Patel – Vice President and Secretary
Navid Tofigh – Vice President and Assistant Secretary
Lindsey Hicks – Assistant Treasurer
Ajay Narayan – Assistant Treasurer
Jeff White – Assistant Treasurer
The Trust does not have a code of ethics or insider trading policy governing the purchase, sale and other disposition of the Trust’s and/or the Fund’s investments as it does not have any directors, officers, or employees.
The Sponsor has a code of ethics (the “Code of Ethics”) that applies to its executive officers, including its Principal Executive Officer, Principal Financial Officer and Treasurer, who perform certain functions with respect to the Trust that, if the Trust had executive officers would typically be performed by them. The Code of Ethics is available at https://www.franklinresources.com/governance/corporate-governance-documents. The Sponsor’s Code of Ethics is intended to be a codification of the business and ethical principles that guide the Sponsor, and to deter wrongdoing, to promote (1) honest and ethical conduct (including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of interest), (2) full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in public reports, documents and communications, (3) compliance with applicable laws and governmental rules and regulations, (4) the prompt internal reporting of violations of the Code of Ethics and (5) accountability for adherence to the Code of Ethics.
The Trust does not have any directors or executive officers. The only ordinary expense paid by the Fund is the Sponsor’s fee.
Item 12.
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans: Not applicable.
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management:
a.)
Not applicable.
b.)
Not applicable.
c.)
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Fees for services performed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PwC”), which were paid by the Sponsor from the Sponsor fee, for the years ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, were:
| 2026 | 2025* | |||||||
|
Audit fees
|
$ | 108,675 | $ | 120,000 | ||||
|
Audit-related fees
|
— | — | ||||||
|
Tax fees
|
— | — | ||||||
|
All other fees
|
— | — | ||||||
|
Total
|
$ | 108,675 | $ | 120,000 | ||||
*
For the period from July 23, 2024 (commencement of operations) to March 31, 2025.
In the table above, in accordance with the SEC’s definitions and rules, Audit Fees are fees paid to PwC for professional services for the audit of the Trust’s and the Fund’s financial statements included in the Form 10-K and review of financial statements included in the Forms 10-Q, and for services that are normally provided by the accountants in connection with regulatory filings or engagements.
PART IV
Financial Statements
See Index to Financial Statements on Page F-1 for a list of the financial statements being filed herein.
Exhibit Index
Listed below are the exhibits which are filed or furnished as part of this annual report on Form 10-K (according to the number assigned to them in Item 601 of Regulation S-K):
| 31.1(1) | Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 |
| 31.2(1) | Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 |
| 32.1(1) | Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U. S. C. 1350) |
| 32.2(1) | Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (18 U. S. C. 1350) |
| 97.1(1) | Compensation Recovery Policy |
| 101.INS(1) | XBRL Instance Document |
| 101.SCH(1) | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema |
| 101.CAL(1) | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase |
| 101.DEF(1) | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase |
| 101.LAB(1) | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase |
| 101.PRE(1) | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase |
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File included as Exhibit 101 (embedded within the Inline XBRL document) |
(1)
Filed herewith.
None.
GLOSSARY OF DEFINED TERMS
In this Annual Report, each of the following quoted terms has the meanings set forth after such term:
“Administration Agreement” — The Fund Administration and Accounting Agreement between the Administrator and the Fund.
“Administrator” — The Bank of New York Mellon.
“Affiliate” — Any affiliates of the Sponsor and the Marketing Agent (including Franklin Resources, Inc., each of its affiliates, directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees).
“airdrop” — An occurrence where holders of a particular digital asset may be entitled to claim a certain amount of a new digital asset for free, based on the fact that they hold such particular digital asset.
“API” - Application Programming Interface.
“Article 8” — Article 8 of the New York Uniform Commercial Code.
“ASC Topic 820” - The Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures.”
“Authorized Participant” — A person who, at the time of submitting an order to create or redeem one or more Creation Units (i) is a registered broker-dealer, (ii) is a DTC Participant or an Indirect Participant, and (iii) has in effect a valid Authorized Participant Agreement.
“Authorized Participant Agreement” — An agreement entered into by an Authorized Participant, the Sponsor and the Administrator that provides the procedures for the creation and redemption of Creation Units.
“BitLicense” — A business license under 23 New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) Part 200. “BMR” —The UK Benchmarks Regulation.
“BNYM” — The Bank of New York Mellon.
“Business Day” — Any day other than: (1) a Saturday or a Sunday, or (2) a day on which the Cboe BZX Exchange is closed for regular trading.
“BSA” - U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, as amended.
“Cash Custodian” — The Bank of New York Mellon.
“Cboe BZX Exchange” — Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.
“CBDCs” — Digital forms of legal tender, called central bank digital currencies, introduced by central banks in various countries.
“CB Return Cure” - the failure of any Coinbase Entity to sell or withdraw or transfer the Fund’s ether in accordance with the Fund’s instructions within the time periods set forth in the Prime Broker Agreement and such failure is not cured within two (2) business days following the Fund providing written notice to the relevant Coinbase Entity.
“CF Benchmarks Index” — The CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate - New York Variant for Ether - U.S. Dollar Trading pair.
“CFPB” — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
“CFTC” — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“Client Account” — Other accounts for clients, such as registered and unregistered funds and owners of separately managed accounts that various divisions and units within Franklin Templeton manage or advise.
“CME” – Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
“Code” — The United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
“Code of Ethics” — The codification of the Sponsor's business and ethical principles that applies to its executive officers.
“Coinbase Entities” — The Prime Broker, Ether Custodian and Trade Credit Lender.
“Commodity Exchange Act” or “CEA” — The United States Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, as amended.
“Connected Trading Venue” — A venue (including third-party venues and the Prime Broker’s own execution venue) where the Prime Broker executes orders to buy and sell ether on behalf of the Fund.
“Consensus Client” – A consensus-layer client software program.
“Constituent Platforms” — The constituent digital asset platforms of the CF Benchmarks Index, which are chosen by the Index Administrator and could change over time.
“Creation Ether Amount” - The amount of ether to be purchased by the Fund which the Sponsor will adjust as determined on each Business Day as promptly as practicable after 4:00 p.m. ET, by multiplying the NAV by the number of Shares in each Creation Unit (50,000) and dividing the resulting product by that day’s CF Benchmarks Index.
“Creation Unit” — A block of 50,000 Shares.
“Creation Unit Deposit Amount” — The amount of cash to be delivered in a creation which BNYM will adjust as determined on each Business Day as promptly as practicable after 4:00 p.m. ET, by multiplying the NAV by the number of Shares in each Creation Unit (50,000).
“CTA” - The Consolidated Tape Association.
“Custodian Agreement” — The agreement, governed by New York law, between the Fund and the Ether Custodian regarding the custody of the Fund’s ether.
“Custodians” —The Cash Custodian and Ether Custodian, collectively.
“Custodians’ Fee" — The fees payable to the Custodians.
“CVC” - Convertible currency.
“DAOs” - Decentralized autonomous organizations.
“DApps” - Short for decentralized applications, which consistent with common usage, refers to all applications which are built on the Ethereum network or other blockchains, whether or not decentralized in fact.
“Declaration of Trust” — The Agreement and Declaration of Trust, as amended, dated as of May 30, 2024, among the Sponsor, the Trust and the Trustee.
“DeFi” - Decentralized finance.
“DFPI” — The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation.
“DOL” — The U.S. Department of Labor.
“DSTA” — The Delaware Statutory Trust Act.
“DTC” — The Depository Trust Company.
“DTC Participant” — An entity that has an account with DTC.
“ECI” — Income that is treated as “effectively connected” with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States.
“EDRTI” — CME CF Ether-Dollar Real Time Index.
“ERISA” — The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.
“ETHUSD_RR” – CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate.
“ET” — Eastern Time Zone.
“ETH” - The currency code for ether.
“Ethereum blockchain” - The blockchain ledger for ether.
“Ethereum Classic” or “ETC” — The original blockchain, now referred to as “Ethereum Classic” with the digital asset on that blockchain now referred to as Ethereum Classic, or ETC.
“Ethereum Client” - software application that implements the Ethereum network specification, communicates with the Ethereum network and allows them to act as a node in the network to the new specification.
“Ether Custodian” or “Coinbase Custody” – Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC.
“Ethereum Foundation” - A Swiss non-profit organization, was set up to oversee the protocol’s development.
“Ethereum network” - Ethereum blockchain and any digital asset network, including the Ethereum peer-to-peer network.
“Ether Trading Counterparty” — Designated third parties who are not registered broker-dealers and transact in ether pursuant to written agreements with the Fund.
“EthSuisse” - Ethereum Switzerland GmbH.
“Exchange Act” — The United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
“Execution Client” - An execution-layer client software program.
“Fair Value Event” - An event which occurs if the CF Benchmarks Index is not available or the Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that the CF Benchmarks Index is unreliable.
“FBO” — For the benefit of.
“FBO Account” – An omnibus account in the Prime Broker’s name FBO its customers at each of multiple FDIC-insured banks.
“FCA” — The Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom.
“FDAP” — A Non-U.S. Shareholder’s allocable share of U.S. source dividend, interest, rental and other “fixed or determinable annual or periodical gains, profits and income.”
“FDIC” — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
“FinCen” — The U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
“FINRA” — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
“Fork” — A non-backward compatible change to the original Ethereum blockchain and the source code of the original Ethereum network which results in the original Ethereum network and the original Ethereum blockchain existing side-by-side, but incompatible, with a new network and a new blockchain, and leads to the creation of a new asset running on the new blockchain.
“FTX” — FTX Trading Ltd.
“GAAP” — The U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
“Genesis” — Genesis Global Capital, LLC and its affiliates.
“gwei” - Fractions of an ether smaller than 0.0000000001.
“Hard fork” — A permanent split in a network’s blockchain that separates an existing blockchain network into two networks, each with its own digital asset, blockchain and source code, which are not backwards compatible.
“IIV” - Intraday indicative value per share.
“Incidental Rights” — Any virtual currency (for avoidance of doubt, other than ether) or other asset or right that the Fund may be entitled to or come into possession of rights to acquire, or otherwise establish dominion and control over, any virtual currency or other asset or right, which rights are incident to the Fund’s ownership of ether and arise without any action of the Fund, or of the Sponsor, Administrator or other service provider on behalf of the Fund.
“Index” — The CF Benchmarks Index shall constitute the Index, unless the CF Benchmarks Index is not available or the Sponsor in its sole discretion determines not to use the CF Benchmarks Index as the Index.
“Index Administrator” —CF Benchmarks Ltd.
“Indirect Participant” — An entity that has access to the DTC clearing system by clearing securities through, or maintaining a custodial relationship with, a DTC Participant.
“Initial Seed Shares” —$100,000 in Shares, comprising 4,000 Shares at a per-Share price equal to $25.00, delivered on May 21, 2024 to the Seed Capital Investor.
“Investment Company Act” — The United States Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
“IR Virtual Currency” — A virtual currency acquired through Incidental Rights.
“IRA” — Individual retirement account.
“IRS” — The United States Internal Revenue Service.
“JOBS Act”— The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act.
“KYC” - Know your customer.
“Money Market Fund” - A money market fund that is in compliance with Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and rated “AAA” by S&P (or the equivalent from any eligible rating service).
“MSB” — A U.S.-based platform registered as a money services business with FinCen.
“MEV” - Maximal Extractable Value.
“MiCA” - Markets in Crypto-Assets.
“NAV” — Net asset value per Share.
“NBMM” – Non-bank market maker.
“NFA” — National Futures Association.
“NFTs” - Non-Fungible tokens.
“Non-U.S. Shareholder” — A Shareholder that is (or is treated as), for U.S. federal income tax purposes: (1) a nonresident alien individual, (2) a foreign corporation or (3) an estate or trust whose income is not subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis.
“Notice” — The 2014 notice released by the IRS.
“NYDFS” — The New York State Department of Financial Services.
“OCC” — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
“OFAC” — The Office of Foreign Assets Control.
“Order Book” - A list of buy and sell orders with associated limit prices and sizes that have not yet been matched.
“OTC” – Over the counter.
“Oversight Committee” - The Oversight Committee of the Index Administrator.
“Person” - Any natural person or any limited liability company, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, joint stock company, trust, unincorporated organization or government or any agency or political subdivision thereof.
“Plan Assets Regulation” — Regulation 29 C.F.R. § 2510.3-101, as modified by Section 3(42) of ERISA.
“Plans” — Any (a) employee benefit plan and certain other plans and arrangements, including individual retirement accounts and annuities, (b) Keogh plans and certain collective investment funds or insurance company general or separate accounts in which such plans or arrangements are invested, that are subject to Title I of ERISA and/or Section 4975 of the Code.
“Prime Broker Agreement” — The agreement between the Sponsor, Trustee and the Prime Broker.
“Prime Broker” — Coinbase Inc., an affiliate of the Ether Custodian.
“Relevant Coinbase Entities” — The Prime Broker and its parent.
“Relevant Pair” - The relevant cryptocurrency base asset against the corresponding quote asset, including markets where the quote asset is made fungible with accepted assets.
“Relevant Transaction” — Any cryptocurrency versus U.S. dollar spot trade that occurs during the observation window between 3:00
p.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET on a Constituent Platform in the ETH/USD pair that is reported and disseminated by a Constituent Platform through its publicly available API and observed by the Index Administrator.
“Ruling & FAQs” — The revenue ruling and set of “Frequently Asked Questions” released by the IRS in 2019.
“Sarbanes-Oxley Act” — The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002.
“SEC” — The Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States, or any successor governmental agency in the United States.
“Secondary Index” – Lukka Digital Asset Reference Rate—Ethereum.
“Securities Act” — The United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
“Seed Capital Investor” — Franklin Resources, Inc.
“Seed Creation Units” — 100,000 Shares delivered to the Seed Capital Investor on June 27, 2024 in exchange for cash which the Fund used to purchase 760 ether at the price of $3,446.37 per ether on June 27, 2024, (exclusive of transaction and other costs incurred in connection with the conversion of the cash proceeds to ether, which were paid by the Seed Capital Investor) all at a per-Share price based on 380 ether per Creation Unit (or 0.0076 ether per Share). Thus, the ultimate total proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were $2,619,241.20 (an amount representing 760 ether).
“Settlement Deadline” — 6:00 p.m. ET of the calendar day immediately following the day the Trade Credit was extended by the Trade Credit Lender to the Fund or, if such day is not a business day, on the next business day.
“Shareholders” — Owners of beneficial interests in the Shares.
“Shares” — Units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in the net assets of the Fund. "SIPC" — The Securities Investor Protection Corporation.
“Sponsor” — Franklin Holdings, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc.
“Sponsor’s Fee” — The fees of the Sponsor accrues daily at an annualized rate equal to 0.19% (i.e., 0.19%/365 days) of the net asset value of the Fund and is payable at least quarterly in arrears in U.S. dollars. The Sponsor may, at its discretion and from time to time, waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s Fee for stated periods of time. The Sponsor is under no obligation to waive any portion of its fees and any such waiver shall create no obligation to waive any such fees during any period not covered by the waiver. For a six-month period commencing on the day the Shares are initially listed on the Exchange to January 31, 2025, the Sponsor waived the entire Sponsor's Fee on the first $10.0 billion of the Fund's assets. In the future, if the Sponsor decides to waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s Fee, Shareholders will be notified in a prospectus supplement, in the Fund’s periodic reports, and/or on the Sponsor’s website for the Fund.
“SVB” — Silicon Valley Bank.
“Trade Credit Lender” — Coinbase Credit, Inc.
“Trade Credit” — The Fund may borrow ether or cash as a credit on a short-term basis from the Trade Credit Lender pursuant to the Trade Financing Agreement.
“Trade Financing Agreement” — The Coinbase Credit Post-Trade Financing Agreement.
“Trading Balance” — A trading account at which, pursuant to the Prime Broker Agreement, a portion of the Fund’s ether holdings and cash holdings from time to time may be held with the Prime Broker, including in connection with the sale of ether to pay the Sponsor’s Fee and Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor.
“Trading Platform” — The Prime Broker's execution platform where the Sponsor may place an order.
“Transaction Parties” — The Sponsor, the Trustee, the Custodians and any of their respective affiliates.
“Transfer Agency and Service Agreement” The agreement between the Fund and BNYM to perform transfer agency services.
“Transfer Agent” — The Bank of New York Mellon.
“Treasury Regulations” — Tax regulations issued by the IRS.
“Trust” — Franklin Ethereum Trust, a Delaware statutory trust formed pursuant to the Agreement and Declaration of Trust.
“Trustee” — CSC Delaware Trust Company, a subsidiary of Corporation Service Company.
“UBTI” — Unrelated business taxable income.
“USD” - The currency code the US Dollar.
“USDC” — US Dollar Coin.
“U.S. Shareholder” — A Shareholder that is (1) an individual who is treated as a citizen or resident of the United States for U.S. federal income tax purposes; (2) a corporation (or an entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia; (3) an estate, the income of which is includible in gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes regardless of its source; or (4) a trust, if a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust.
“Vault Balance” — Accounts storing the Fund’s ether that are required to be segregated from the assets held by the Ether Custodian as principal and the assets of its other customers.
“VWAP” - Volume Weight Average Prices.
“VWMP” - Volume Weight Median Prices.
Franklin ETHEREUM ETF
Franklin Ethereum Trust
index to financial statements
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| Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, PCAOB #238) for Franklin Ethereum ETF | F-15 |
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To the Sponsor of Franklin Ethereum Trust
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying combined statements of assets and liabilities, including the combined schedules of investments, of Franklin Ethereum Trust and Franklin Ethereum ETF (the “Trust”) as of March 31, 2026 and 2025, and the related combined statements of operations, cash flows and changes in net assets for the year ended March 31, 2026 and for the period July 23, 2024 (date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “combined financial statements”). In our opinion, the combined financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Trust as of March 31, 2026 and 2025, and the results of its operations, its cash flows and changes in its net assets for the year ended March 31, 2026 and for the period July 23, 2024 (date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These combined financial statements are the responsibility of the Sponsor’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Trust’s combined financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Trust in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits of these combined financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the combined financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Trust is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Trust's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the combined financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the combined financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the combined financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
June 29, 2026
We have served as the Trust’s auditor since 2024.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
| March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | |||||||
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Assets
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Investment in ether, at fair value
(a)
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$ | $ | ||||||
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Total Assets
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Liabilities
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Sponsor's fee payable
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Total liabilities
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Commitments and contingencies (Note 7)
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Net Assets
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$ | $ | ||||||
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Shares issued and outstanding
(b)
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Net asset value per Share
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$ | $ | ||||||
(a)
(b)
See accompanying notes to the combined financial statements.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
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March 31, 2026
|
Quantity of ether | Cost | Fair Value |
Fair Value as a % of Net Assets | ||||||||||||
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Investment in ether
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$ | $ | % | |||||||||||||
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Total investments
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$ | $ | % | |||||||||||||
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Less liabilities
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( | ) | ( | )% | ||||||||||||
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Net Assets
|
$ | % | ||||||||||||||
|
March 31, 2025
|
Quantity of ether | Cost | Fair Value |
Fair Value as a
% of Net Assets | ||||||||||||
|
Investment in ether
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$ | $ | % | |||||||||||||
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Total investments
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$ | $ | % | |||||||||||||
|
Less liabilities
|
( | ) | ( | )% | ||||||||||||
|
Net Assets
|
$ | % | ||||||||||||||
See accompanying notes to the combined financial statements.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
|
For the Year Ended March 31, 2026 |
For the period July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025 | |||||||
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Expenses
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Sponsor's fee
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$ | $ | ||||||
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Less waiver
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( | ) | ||||||
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Total expenses
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| Net investment loss | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
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Net realized and change in unrealized gain (loss) on investment in ether
|
||||||||
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Net realized gain (loss) from ether sold for the redemption of shares and sold to pay expenses
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investment in ether
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net realized and change in unrealized gain (loss) on investment in ether
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets per Share(a)(b)
|
$ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
(a)
(b)
See accompanying notes to the combined financial statements.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
|
For the Year Ended March 31, 2026 |
For the period July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025 | |||||||
|
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
|
||||||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations
|
$ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
|
Adjustments to reconcile net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
|
||||||||
|
Purchases of ether
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Sales of ether
|
||||||||
| Net realized (gain) loss on investment in ether | ( | ) | ||||||
|
Net change in unrealized (appreciation) depreciation on investment in ether
|
||||||||
|
Change in operating assets and liabilities:
|
||||||||
|
Sponsor's fee payable
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
|
$ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
|
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
|
||||||||
|
Proceeds from issuance of Shares
|
||||||||
|
Payments on Shares redeemed
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
|
$ | $ | ||||||
|
Cash
|
||||||||
|
Net increase in cash
|
$ | $ | ||||||
|
Cash, beginning of period
|
||||||||
|
Cash, end of period
|
$ | $ | ||||||
See accompanying notes to the combined financial statements.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
| For the Year Ended March 31, 2026 | For the period July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025^ | |||||||
|
Net assets, beginning of period
|
$ | $ | ||||||
| Net investment loss | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net realized gain (loss) on investment in ether
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investment in ether
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations
|
$ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
|
Increase (decrease) in net assets from capital share transactions:
|
||||||||
|
Contributions for Shares issued
|
||||||||
|
Distributions for Shares redeemed
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets from capital share transactions
|
||||||||
|
Net assets, end of period
|
$ | $ | ||||||
See accompanying notes to the combined financial statements.
^
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
1.
ORGANIZATION
The Franklin Ethereum Trust (the “Trust”) was formed as a Delaware statutory trust on February 8, 2024, and is governed by the provisions of an Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated as of May 30, 2024 (the “Declaration of Trust”). The Trust is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”) and is not a commodity pool for purposes of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). The accompanying combined financial statements relate to the Trust, as registrant, and the one series that it currently offers, the Franklin Ethereum ETF (the “Fund”) presented on a combined basis. Separate, series-level financial statements are provided for the Fund in another section of this report. The Trust had no operations prior to the Fund’s launch, other than matters relating to its organization and the registration of the Fund under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Sponsor of the Trust and the Fund (the “Sponsor”) is Franklin Holdings, LLC. The Sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company formed on July 21, 2021. The Sponsor is not subject to regulation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) as a commodity pool operator with respect to the Fund, or a commodity trading advisor with respect to the Fund. The Fund issues shares (the “Shares”), which represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest and ownership of in the Fund. The Shares of the Fund are listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX Exchange” or the “Exchange”).
The Fund seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of ether before payment of the Fund's expenses and liabilities. The Shares are intended to offer a convenient means of making an investment similar to an investment in ether relative to acquiring, holding and trading ether directly on a peer-to-peer or other basis or via a digital asset platform. The Shares have been designed to remove obstacles associated with the complexities and operational burdens involved in a direct investment in ether by providing an investment with a value that reflects the price of the ether owned by the Fund at such time, less the Fund's expenses. The Fund is not a proxy for a direct investment in ether. Rather, the Shares are intended to provide a cost-effective alternative means of obtaining investment exposure through the securities markets that is similar to an investment in ether. The Fund is a passive investment vehicle and is not a leveraged product. The Sponsor does not actively manage the ether held by the Fund. This means that the Sponsor does not sell ether at times when its price is in the expectation of future price increases. The Fund will not utilize leverage, derivatives or similar instruments or transactions in seeking to meet its investment objective.
BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, a division of The Bank of New York Mellon, or “BNYM,” is the Fund’s Administrator (the “Administrator”) and Transfer Agent (the “Transfer Agent”). BNYM also serves as the custodian of the Fund’s cash (the “Cash Custodian”). The Administrator is generally responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Fund, including the calculation of the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) per Share. The Ether Custodian is responsible for safekeeping the ether owned by the Fund. The Ether Custodian is Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC (“Coinbase Custody”). Coinbase Inc., an affiliate of the Ether Custodian, is the Fund’s Prime Broker. CSC Delaware Trust Company, a subsidiary of the Corporation Service Company (the “Trustee”), is the sole trustee of the Trust. Franklin Distributors, LLC is the marketing agent of the Fund (the “Marketing Agent”).
The Fund issues and redeems Shares only to certain eligible financial institutions called Authorized Participants and only in one or more blocks of 50,000 Shares (“Creation Units”). Creation Units are directly redeemable only by Authorized Participants. Creation Units are issued and redeemed in exchange for cash. The Shares are listed and traded on the Exchange under the ticker symbol “EZET.” The market price of the Shares may be different than the Fund’s NAV per Share. The Fund issues and redeems Shares in Creation Units on a continuous basis at the applicable NAV per Share on the transaction order date. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities.
The Trust is an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”), subject to reduced public company reporting requirements under U.S. federal securities laws.
On May 21, 2024, Franklin Resources Inc. (the “Seed Capital Investor”), an affiliate of the Sponsor, subject to conditions, purchased 4,000 Shares at a per-Share price equal to $25.00 (the “Initial Seed Shares”). Delivery of the Initial Seed Shares was made on May 21, 2024. Total proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Initial Seed Shares were $100,000 . On June 27, 2024, the Initial Seed Shares were redeemed for $100,000 and the Seed Capital Investor purchased two creation units in a cash transaction comprised of a total of 100,000 Shares at a per-Share price based on 380 ether per Creation Unit (or 0.0076 ether per Share), for a total of 760 ether (the “Seed Creation Units”). The cash proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were used by the Fund to purchase 760 ether at the price of $3,446.37 per ether on June 27, 2024 (exclusive of transaction and other costs incurred in connection with the conversion of the cash proceeds to ether, which were paid by the Seed Capital Investor). Thus, the ultimate total proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were $2,619,241.20 (an amount representing 760 ether). As noted above, the transaction and other costs incurred in connection with the Seed Creation Units were paid by the Seed Capital Investor and not borne by the Fund.
The fiscal year end of the Trust and the Fund is March 31st.
2.
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
In preparing financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), management of the Sponsor makes estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amount of revenue and expenses reported during the period. Actual results could differ from these estimates.
The accompanying audited financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP for financial information and with the instructions for Form 10-K and the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Trust and the Fund.
2.1.
Basis of Presentation
The Sponsor has determined that the Trust falls within the scope of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 946, Financial Services—Investment Companies, and has concluded that solely for accounting purposes, the Trust is classified as an Investment Company as defined in ASC 946. The Trust is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act and is not required to register under such act.
The financial statements are presented for the Trust, as the registrant, combined with the Fund. Financial statements for the Fund presented at the series level are provided separately in this report. For the periods presented, there were no balances or activity for the Trust except for the Fund’s operations, as its sole series. These notes to the financial statements relate to the Trust, as the registrant, combined with the Fund. The debts, liabilities, obligations and expenses incurred, contracted for or otherwise existing with respect to the Fund are enforceable only against the assets of the Fund and not against the assets of the Trust generally or any other series that the Trust may establish.
2.2.
Calculation of NAV and NAV per Share
The Sponsor has the exclusive authority to determine the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”). The Sponsor has delegated to the Administrator the responsibility to calculate the NAV of the Fund, based on a pricing source selected by the Sponsor. In determining the Fund’s NAV, the Administrator generally will value the ether held by the Fund based on the Index, unless the Sponsor in its sole discretion determines that the index is unreliable. The CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate – New York Variant for the Ether – U.S. Dollar trading pair (the “CF Benchmarks Index”) shall constitute the Index, unless the CF Benchmarks Index is not available or the Sponsor in its sole discretion determines the CF Benchmarks Index is unreliable as the Index and therefore determines not to use the CF Benchmarks Index as the Index. If the CF Benchmarks Index is not available or the Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that the CF Benchmarks Index is unreliable (referred to herein as a “Fair Value Event”), the Fund’s holdings may be fair valued by the Sponsor.
On each Business Day, as soon as practicable after 4:00 PM Eastern Time (“ET”), the Administrator evaluates the ether held by the Fund as reflected by the CF Benchmarks Index and determines the NAV of the Fund. For purposes of making these calculations, a Business Day means any day other than a day when the Cboe BZX Exchange is closed for regular trading. The Trust’s periodic financial statements may not utilize this net asset value of the Trust to the extent the methodology used to calculate the Index is deemed not to be consistent with GAAP.
2.3.
Valuation of Ether
The Trust’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP for annual financial information. Ether is priced at 11:59:59PM ET. With respect to the Fund’s ether holdings, the Trust follows the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC Topic 820”) and utilizes an exchange-traded price from the Fund’s principal market (or in the absence of a principal market, the most advantageous market) for ether as of the Fund’s financial statement measurement date.
ASC 820 established a hierarchy that prioritized inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The three levels of inputs are:
Level 1: Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;
Level 2: Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability either directly or indirectly, including quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not considered to be active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability, and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means; and
Level 3: Inputs that are unobservable for the asset or liability, including the Fund’s assumptions used in determining the fair value of investments.
As of March 31, 2026 and March 31, 2025, the value of the ether held by the Fund was categorized as Level 1.
2.4.
Fees, Expenses, and Realized Gains (Losses)
The Trust’s only ordinary recurring expense is the Sponsor’s fee. In exchange for the Sponsor’s fee, the Sponsor has agreed to assume the ordinary fees and expenses incurred by the Fund, including but not limited to the following: the fees charged by the Administrator, the Marketing Agent, the Custodians (the Cash Custodian and Ether Custodian, collectively) and the Trustee, Cboe BZX Exchange listing fees, typical maintenance and transaction fees of the DTC, SEC registration fees, printing and mailing costs, tax reporting fees, audit fees, license fees and expenses, and up to $500,000 per annum in ordinary legal fees and expenses. The Sponsor paid the costs of the Fund’s organization and the initial offering costs and will not seek reimbursement of such costs. Ether transactions are accounted for on a trade date basis. Realized gains or losses from the sale or disposition of ether are determined on a specific identification basis and recognized in the Combined Statements of Operations in the period in which the sale or disposition occurs, respectively.
The Sponsor’s fee is accrued daily at an annualized rate equal to 0.19 % (i.e., 0.19 %/365 days) of the net asset value of the Fund and is payable at least quarterly in arrears in U.S. dollars. The Sponsor may, at its sole discretion and from time to time, waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s fee for stated periods of time. The Sponsor is under no obligation to waive any portion of its fees and any such waiver shall create no obligation to waive any such fees during any period not covered by the waiver. The Fund will sell ether as needed to pay the Sponsor’s fee. The Fund bears transaction costs, including any Ethereum network fees or other similar transaction fees, in connection with any sales of ether necessary to pay the Sponsor’s fee, as well as other Fund expenses (if any) that are not assumed by the Sponsor (expenses assumed by the Sponsor are specified above). Any Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees incurred in connection with the creation or redemption of Creation Units are borne by the Authorized Participant. For the period from July 23, 2024 (the day the Shares were initially listed on the Exchange) to January 31, 2025, the Sponsor agreed to waive the entire Sponsor’s Fee on the first $10.0 billion of the Fund’s assets. For the year ended March 31, 2026, the Fund recognized the Sponsor’s Fee of $108,260 .
The Sponsor is not required to pay any extraordinary or non-routine expenses. Extraordinary expenses are fees and expenses which are unexpected or unusual in nature, such as legal claims and liabilities and litigation costs or indemnification or other unanticipated expenses. Extraordinary fees and expenses also include material expenses which are not currently anticipated obligations of the Fund. The Fund is responsible for the payment of such expenses to the extent any such expenses are incurred. Routine operational, administrative and other ordinary expenses are not deemed extraordinary expenses. In addition, the Fund may incur certain other non-recurring expenses that are not assumed by the Sponsor (expenses assumed by the Sponsor are described above), including but not limited to, taxes and governmental charges, any applicable brokerage commissions, Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees that qualify as extraordinary or non-routine expenses as described above, financing fees, expenses and costs of any extraordinary services performed by the Sponsor (or any other service provider) on behalf of the Fund to protect the Fund or the interests of Shareholders (including, for example, in connection with any fork of the Ethereum blockchain, any Incidental Rights and any IR Virtual Currency), any indemnification of the Cash Custodian, Ether Custodian, Prime Broker, Administrator or other agents, service providers or counterparties of the Trust or the Fund and extraordinary legal fees and expenses, including any legal fees and expenses incurred in connection with litigation, regulatory enforcement or investigation matters or legal expenses in excess of $500,000 per year. The Sponsor may determine in its sole discretion to assume legal fees and expenses of the Fund in excess of the $500,000 per annum stipulated in the Sponsor Agreement. To the extent that the Sponsor does not voluntarily assume such fees and expenses, they will be the responsibility of the Fund. The Fund’s organizational and offering costs are borne by the Sponsor and, as such, are the sole responsibility of the Sponsor. The Sponsor may not seek reimbursement or otherwise require the Fund, the Trust, the Trustee, or any Shareholder to assume any liability, duty or obligation in connection with any such organizational and offering costs. Because the Fund does not have any income, it will need to sell ether to cover the Sponsor’s fee and expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, if any. Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor shall accrue daily and be payable by the Fund to the Sponsor at least quarterly in arrears. The Fund may also be subject to other liabilities (for example, as a result of litigation) that have also not been assumed by the Sponsor. The only source of funds to cover those liabilities will be sales of ether held by the Fund. Even if there are no expenses other than those assumed by the Sponsor, and there are no other liabilities of the Fund, the Fund will still need to sell ether to pay the Sponsor’s fee. The result of these sales is a decrease in the amount of ether represented by each Share.
There have been no extraordinary or non-routine expenses during the periods presented.
2.5.
Ether Receivable and Payable
Ether receivable or payable represents the quantity of Ether covered by contractually binding orders for the creation or redemption of Shares respectively, where the Ether has not yet been transferred to or from the Fund's account. Generally, ownership of the Ether is transferred within one business day of the trade date.
2.6.
Income Taxes
The Fund is classified as a “grantor trust” for United States federal income tax purposes. As a result, the Trust and the Fund are not subject to United States federal income tax. Instead, the Fund’s income, gain, losses, and expenses will “flow through” to the Shareholders, and the Administrator reports these to the Internal Revenue Service on that basis.
The Sponsor has analyzed applicable tax laws and regulations and their application to the Trust and the Fund as of March 31, 2026 and 2025, and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. March 31, 2026 and 2025 tax years remain open for examination. There were no examinations in progress at period end.
2.7.
Creation and Redemption of Shares
The Fund issues and redeems Creation Units on a continuous basis. Creation Units are issued or redeemed in exchange for an amount of cash as determined by the Administrator on each day that Cboe BZX Exchange is open for regular trading.
For creation transactions, the amount of cash required to be delivered to the Fund will equal the amount of cash needed to purchase the amount of ether represented by the Creation Unit(s) being created, as calculated by the Administrator, plus applicable fees, costs and adjustments. For redemption transactions, the Sponsor will arrange for the ether represented by the Creation Unit(s) being redeemed to be sold and the cash proceeds, after applicable fees, costs and adjustments, distributed. No Shares are issued until the corresponding amount of ether has been received in the Fund’s Trading Balance. Creation Units may be created or redeemed only by Authorized Participants, who pay (1) a transaction fee for each order to create or redeem Creation Units; (2) transfer, processing and other transaction costs charged by the Ether Custodian in connection with the issuance or redemption of Creation Units for such order; and (3) any other expenses, taxes, charges or adjustments.
The Authorized Participants will deliver only cash to create Shares and will receive only cash when redeeming Shares. Further, Authorized Participants will not directly or indirectly purchase, hold, deliver, or receive ether as part of the creation or redemption process or otherwise direct the Fund or a third-party with respect to purchasing, holding, delivering, or receiving ether as part of the creation or redemption process. The Fund will create Shares by receiving ether from a third-party that is not the Authorized Participant and the Fund—not the Authorized Participant—is responsible for selecting the third-party to deliver the ether. Further, the third-party will not be acting as an agent of the Authorized Participant with respect to the delivery of the ether to the Fund or acting at the direction of the Authorized Participant with respect to the delivery of the ether to the Fund. The Fund will redeem shares by delivering ether to a third-party that is not the Authorized Participant and the Fund—not the Authorized Participant—is responsible for selecting the third-party to receive the ether. Further, the third-party will not be acting as an agent of the Authorized Participant with respect to the receipt of the ether from the Fund or acting at the direction of the Authorized Participant with respect to the receipt of the ether from the Fund. The third-party will be unaffiliated with the Fund and the Sponsor.
Creation Units will be sold at a per-Share offering price that will vary depending on, among other things, the price of ether and the trading price of the Shares on the Cboe BZX Exchange at the time of the offer. Shares offered at different times may have different offering prices.
Changes in the Shares for the year from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026 are as follows:
| Shares | Amount# | |||||||
|
Balance at April 1, 2025
|
$ | |||||||
|
Creation of Shares
|
||||||||
|
Redemption of Shares
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Balance at March 31, 2026
|
$ | |||||||
Changes in the Shares for the period from July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) to March 31, 2025 are as follows:
| Shares | Amount# | |||||||
|
Balance at July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations)
|
$ | |||||||
|
Creation of Shares
|
||||||||
|
Redemption of Shares
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Balance at March 31, 2025
|
$ | |||||||
#
^
3.
INVESTMENT IN ETHER
The following represents the changes in quantity of ether held and the respective fair value during the year from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026:
| Quantity of ether | Amount in US$ | |||||||
|
Balance at April 1, 2025
|
$ | |||||||
|
Ether purchased for the creation of Shares
|
||||||||
|
Ether sold for the redemption of Shares
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Principal on ether sales to pay expenses
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net realized gain (loss) from ether sold for the redemption of shares and sold to pay expenses
|
- | |||||||
|
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments in ether
|
- | ( | ) | |||||
|
Balance at March 31, 2026
|
$ | |||||||
The following represents the changes in quantity of ether held and the respective fair value during the period from July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) to March 31, 2025:
| Quantity of ether | Amount in US$ | |||||||
|
Balance at July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations)
|
$ | ^ | ||||||
|
Ether purchased for the creation of Shares
|
||||||||
|
Ether sold for the redemption of Shares
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Principal on ether sales to pay expenses
|
||||||||
|
Net realized gain (loss) from ether sold for the redemption of shares and sold to pay expenses
|
- | ( | ) | |||||
|
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments in ether
|
- | ( | ) | |||||
|
Balance at March 31, 2025
|
$ | |||||||
^
4.
RELATED PARTIES
The Sponsor of the Trust is Franklin Holdings, LLC. The Sponsor is responsible for establishing the Trust and for the registration of the Shares. The Sponsor generally oversees the performance of the Fund’s principal service providers but does not exercise day-to-day oversight over such service providers. The Sponsor, with assistance and support from the Administrator, is responsible for preparing and filing periodic reports on behalf of the Trust and the Fund with the SEC and will provide any required certification for such reports. The Sponsor has designated the independent registered public accounting firm of the Trust on behalf of the Fund and may from time to time employ legal counsel for the Fund.
Franklin Distributors, LLC serves as the Marketing Agent of the Fund. The Sponsor and the Marketing Agent are affiliates, and each is considered to be a related party to the Trust and the Fund. Franklin Resources, Inc. (“FRI”) is the ultimate parent company of the Sponsor and the Marketing Agent. FRI is the holding company for various subsidiaries that together are referred to as Franklin Templeton.
The Sponsor is a related party of the Trust and the Fund. The Fund pays the Sponsor a unitary fee for services performed pursuant to the Sponsor Agreement. The Marketing Agent is an affiliate of the Sponsor. Expenses payable to the Marketing Agent, if any, are paid through the Sponsor’s fee.
The Trust also considers Franklin Resources, Inc., the ultimate parent company of the Sponsor, to be a related party of the Trust and the Fund. As of March 31, 2026, no shares of the Fund were held by a related party.
5.
CONCENTRATION OF RISK
The Fund holds only ether and cash, which creates a concentration risk associated with fluctuations in the price of ether. Accordingly, a decline in the price of ether will have an adverse effect on the value of the Shares of the Fund. The trading prices of ether have experienced extreme volatility in recent periods and may continue to fluctuate significantly. Extreme volatility in the future, including substantial, sustained, or rapid declines in the trading prices of ether, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Shares and the Shares could lose all or substantially all of their value. Factors adversely impacting the value of ether and the Shares may include an increase in the global ether supply or a decrease in global ether demand; market conditions of, and overall sentiment towards, the digital assets and blockchain technology industry; trading activity on digital asset platforms, which, in many cases, may be unregulated or subject to regulation by a relevant jurisdiction but potentially non-compliant with such regulations or may be subject to manipulation; the adoption of ether as a medium of exchange, store-of-value or other consumptive asset and the maintenance and development of the open-source software protocol of the Ethereum network, and their ability to meet user demands; manipulative trading activity on digital asset platforms, which in many cases are largely unregulated and substantially less regulated relative to securities markets; and forks in the Ethereum network, among other things.
6.
COMBINED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
| For the Year Ended March 31, 2026 | For the period July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025 | |||||||
|
Net asset value per Share, beginning of year
|
$ | $ | (a) | |||||
|
Net investment loss(b)
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investment in ether(c)
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net change in net assets from operations
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net asset value per Share, end of year
|
$ | $ | ||||||
|
Total return, at net asset value(e)
|
% | ( | )%(d) | |||||
|
Ratio to average net assets
|
||||||||
|
Net investment loss
|
( | )% | ( | )%(f) | ||||
|
Gross expenses
|
% | %(f) | ||||||
|
Net expenses
|
% | %(f) |
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
7.
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
In the normal course of business, the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, may enter into contracts with service providers that contain general indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred.
8.
INDEMNIFICATION
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, the Sponsor and its shareholders, members, directors, affiliates, officers, employees and subsidiaries are indemnified by the Trust against certain liabilities. The Fund has also agreed to indemnify certain of its other service providers, including the Administrator, the Marketing Agent, the Custodians and the Trustee (including its officers, affiliates, directors, employees, and agents), for certain liabilities incurred by such parties in connection with their respective agreements to provide services for the Fund.
The Sponsor will not be liable to the Trust, the Trustee or any Shareholder for any action taken or for refraining from taking any action in good faith, or for errors in judgment or for depreciation or loss incurred by reason of the sale of any ether or other assets of the Fund or the Trust. However, the preceding liability exclusion will not protect the Sponsor against any liability resulting from its own gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct.
The Sponsor and each of its shareholders, members, directors, officers, employees, affiliates and subsidiaries will be indemnified by the Trust and held harmless against any losses, liabilities or expenses incurred in the performance of its duties under the Declaration of Trust without gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct. The Sponsor may rely in good faith on any paper, order, notice, list, affidavit, receipt, evaluation, opinion, endorsement, assignment, draft or any other document of any kind prima facie properly executed and submitted to it by the Trustee, the Trustee’s counsel or by any other person for any matters arising under the Declaration of Trust. The Sponsor shall in no event be deemed to have assumed or incurred any liability, duty, or obligation to any Shareholder or to the Trustee other than as expressly provided for in the Declaration of Trust. Such indemnity includes payment from the Trust of the costs and expenses incurred in defending against any indemnified claim or liability under the Declaration of Trust.
The Trustee will not be liable or accountable to the Trust or any other person or under any agreement to which the Trust or any series of the Trust is a party, except for the Trustee’s breach of its obligations pursuant to the Declaration of Trust or its own willful misconduct, bad faith or gross negligence. The Trustee and each of the Trustee’s officers, affiliates, directors, employees, and agents will be indemnified by the Trust from and against any losses, claims, taxes, damages, reasonable expenses, and liabilities incurred with respect to the creation, operation or termination of the Trust, the execution, delivery or performance of the Declaration of Trust or the transactions contemplated thereby; provided that the indemnified party acted without willful misconduct, bad faith or gross negligence.
9.
OPERATING SEGMENTS
The Fund, which is the sole series of the Trust, and the Trust operate as a operating segment, which is an investment portfolio. Executive officers of the Fund’s Sponsor perform the functions of the Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM), evaluating fund-wide results and performance under a unified investment strategy. The CODM uses these measures to assess fund performance and allocate resources effectively. Internal reporting provided to the CODM aligns with the accounting policies and measurement principles used in the financial statements.
For information regarding segment assets, segment profit or loss, and significant expenses, refer to the Combined Statements of Assets and Liabilities and the Combined Statements of Operations, along with the related Notes to the Combined Financial Statements. The Combined Schedules of Investments provide details of the Fund’s investments that generate returns such as realized and unrealized gains or losses. Performance metrics and expense ratios are disclosed in the Combined Financial Highlights.
10.
SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Trust and the Fund have evaluated subsequent events through the issuance of the financial statements and determined that no such events have occurred that require disclosure.
To the Sponsor of Franklin Ethereum Trust and Shareholders of Franklin Ethereum ETF
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the schedules of investments, of Franklin Ethereum ETF (the "Fund") as of March 31, 2026 and 2025, and the related statements of operations, cash flows and changes in net assets for the year ended March 31, 2026 and for the period July 23, 2024 (date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Fund as of March 31, 2026 and 2025, and the results of its operations, its cash flows and changes in its net assets for the year ended March 31, 2026 and for the period July 23, 2024 (date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Sponsor’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Fund’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Fund in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Fund is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Fund's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
San Francisco, California
June 29, 2026
We have served as the Fund’s auditor since 2024.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM ETF
A SERIES OF FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
| March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | |||||||
|
Assets
|
||||||||
|
Investment in ether, at fair value
(a)
|
$ | $ | ||||||
|
Total Assets
|
||||||||
|
Liabilities
|
||||||||
|
Sponsor's fee payable
|
||||||||
|
Total liabilities
|
||||||||
|
Commitments and contingencies (Note 7)
|
||||||||
|
Net Assets
|
$ | $ | ||||||
|
Shares issued and outstanding
(b)
|
||||||||
|
Net asset value per Share
|
$ | $ |
(a)
Cost of investments in ether: $69,199,790 at March 31, 2026 and $37,851,948 at March 31, 2025.
(b)
No par value, unlimited amount authorized.
See accompanying notes to the financial statements.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM ETF
A SERIES OF FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
|
March 31, 2026
|
Quantity of ether | Cost | Fair Value |
Fair Value as a
% of Net Assets | ||||||||||||
|
Investment in ether
|
$ | $ | % | |||||||||||||
|
Total investments
|
$ | $ | % | |||||||||||||
| Less liabilities | ( | ) | ( | )% | ||||||||||||
| Net Assets | $ | % | ||||||||||||||
|
March 31, 2025
|
Quantity of ether | Cost | Fair Value |
Fair Value as a
% of Net Assets | ||||||||||||
|
Investment in ether
|
$ | $ | % | |||||||||||||
|
Total investments
|
$ | $ | % | |||||||||||||
| Less liabilities | ( | ) | ( | )% | ||||||||||||
| Net Assets | $ | % | ||||||||||||||
See accompanying notes to the financial statements.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM ETF
A SERIES OF FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
|
For the Year Ended March 31, 2026 |
For the period July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025 | |||||||
|
Expenses
|
||||||||
|
Sponsor's fee
|
$ | $ | ||||||
|
Less waiver
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Total expenses
|
||||||||
| Net investment loss | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net realized and change in unrealized gain (loss) on investment in ether
|
||||||||
|
Net realized gain (loss) from ether sold for the redemption of shares and sold to pay
expenses
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investment in ether
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net realized and change in unrealized gain (loss) on investment in ether
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets per Share(a)(b)
|
$ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
See accompanying notes to the financial statements.
(a)
Net increase (decrease) in net Assets per Share based on average shares outstanding during the period.
(b)
The change in Financial highlights may not agree with Net increase (decrease) in net assets per Share because of the timing of transactions in the Fund’s shares in relation to fluctuating market values for the Fund’s underlying investment.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM ETF
A SERIES OF FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
|
For the Year Ended March 31, 2026 |
For the period July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025 | |||||||
|
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
|
||||||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations
|
$ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
|
Adjustments to reconcile net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
|
||||||||
|
Purchases of ether
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Sales of ether
|
||||||||
|
Net realized (gain) loss on investment in ether
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net change in unrealized (appreciation) depreciation on investment in ether
|
||||||||
|
Change in operating assets and liabilities:
|
||||||||
|
Sponsor's fee payable
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
|
( | ) | $ | ( | ) | |||
|
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
|
||||||||
|
Proceeds from issuance of Shares
|
||||||||
|
Payments on Shares redeemed
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities
|
$ | $ | ||||||
|
Cash
|
||||||||
|
Net increase in cash
|
$ | $ | ||||||
|
Cash, beginning of period
|
||||||||
|
Cash, end of period
|
$ | $ | ||||||
See accompanying notes to the financial statements.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM ETF
A SERIES OF FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
| For the Year Ended March 31, 2026 | For the period July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025^ | |||||||
|
Net assets, beginning of period
|
$ | $ | ||||||
| Net investment loss | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net realized gain (loss) on investment in ether
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investment in ether
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations
|
$ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
|
Increase (decrease) in net assets from capital share transactions:
|
||||||||
|
Contributions for Shares issued
|
||||||||
|
Distributions for Shares redeemed
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net increase (decrease) in net assets from capital share transactions
|
||||||||
|
Net assets, end of period
|
$ | $ | ||||||
See accompanying notes to the financial statements.
^ On May 21, 2024, Franklin Resources Inc. (the “Seed
Capital Investor”), an affiliate of the Sponsor, subject to conditions,
purchased 4,000 Shares at per-Share price equal to $25.00 (the “Initial Seed
Shares”). Delivery of the Initial Seed Shares was made on May 21, 2024. Total
proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Initial Seed Shares were $100,000. On
June 27, 2024, the Initial Seed Shares were redeemed for $100,000 and the Seed
Capital Investor purchased two creation units in a cash transaction comprised
of a total of 100,000 Shares at a per-Share price based on 380 ether per
Creation Unit (or 0.0076 ether per Share), for a total of 760 ether (the “Seed
Creation Units”). The cash proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed
Creation Units were used by the Fund to purchase 760 ether at the price of
$3,446.37 per ether on June 27, 2024 (exclusive of transaction and other costs
incurred in connection with the conversion of the cash proceeds to ether, which
were paid by the Seed Capital Investor). Thus, the ultimate total proceeds to
the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were $2,619,241.20 (an amount
representing 760 ether). Further, the transaction and other costs incurred in
connection with the Seed Creation Units were paid by the Seed Capital Investor
and not borne by the Fund.
FRANKLIN ETHEREUM ETF
A SERIES OF FRANKLIN ETHEREUM TRUST
1.
ORGANIZATION
The Franklin Ethereum Trust (the “Trust”) was formed as a Delaware statutory trust on February 8, 2024, and is governed by the provisions of an Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust dated as of May 30, 2024 (the “Declaration of Trust”). The Trust is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”) and is not a commodity pool for purposes of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). The accompanying financial statements relate to the one series that the Trust currently offers, the Franklin Ethereum ETF (the “Fund”). The Trust had no operations prior to the Fund’s launch, other than matters relating to its organization and the registration of the Fund under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Sponsor of the Trust and the Fund (the “Sponsor”) is Franklin Holdings, LLC. The Sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company formed on July 21, 2021. The Sponsor is not subject to regulation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) as a commodity pool operator with respect to the Fund, or a commodity trading advisor with respect to the Fund. The Fund issues shares (the “Shares”), which represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in the Fund. The Shares of the Fund are listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (“Cboe BZX Exchange” or the “Exchange”).
The Fund seeks to reflect generally the performance of the price of ether before payment of the Fund's expenses and liabilities. The Shares are intended to offer a convenient means of making an investment similar to an investment in ether relative to acquiring, holding and trading ether directly on a peer-to-peer or other basis or via a digital asset platform. The Shares have been designed to remove obstacles associated with the complexities and operational burdens involved in a direct investment in ether by providing an investment with a value that reflects the price of the ether owned by the Fund at such time, less the Fund's expenses. The Fund is not a proxy for a direct investment in ether. Rather, the Shares are intended to provide a cost-effective alternative means of obtaining investment exposure through the securities markets that is similar to an investment in ether. The Fund is a passive investment vehicle and is not a leveraged product. The Sponsor does not actively manage the ether held by the Fund. This means that the Sponsor does not sell ether at times when its price is in the expectation of future price increases. The Fund will not utilize leverage, derivatives or similar instruments or transactions in seeking to meet its investment objective.
BNY Mellon Asset Servicing, a division of The Bank of New York Mellon, or “BNYM,” is the Fund’s Administrator (the “Administrator”) and Transfer Agent (the “Transfer Agent”). BNYM also serves as the custodian of the Fund’s cash (the “Cash Custodian”). The Administrator is generally responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Fund, including the calculation of the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) per Share. The Ether Custodian is responsible for safekeeping the ether owned by the Fund. The Ether Custodian is Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC (“Coinbase Custody”). Coinbase Inc., an affiliate of the Ether Custodian, is the Fund’s Prime Broker. CSC Delaware Trust Company, a subsidiary of the Corporation Service Company (the “Trustee”), is the sole trustee of the Trust. Franklin Distributors, LLC is the marketing agent of the Fund (the “Marketing Agent”).
The Fund issues and redeems Shares only to certain eligible financial institutions called Authorized Participants and only in one or more blocks of 50,000 Shares (“Creation Units”). Creation Units are directly redeemable only by Authorized Participants. Creation Units are issued and redeemed in exchange for cash. The Shares are listed and traded on the Exchange under the ticker symbol “EZET.” The market price of the Shares may be different than the Fund’s NAV per Share. The Fund issues and redeems Shares in Creation Units on a continuous basis at the applicable NAV per Share on the transaction order date. Except when aggregated in Creation Units, the Shares are not redeemable securities.
The Fund is an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “JOBS Act”), subject to reduced public company reporting requirements under U.S. federal securities laws.
On May 21, 2024, Franklin Resources Inc. (the “Seed Capital Investor”), an affiliate of the Sponsor, subject to conditions, purchased 4,000 Shares at a per-Share price equal to $25.00 (the “Initial Seed Shares”). Delivery of the Initial Seed Shares was made on May 21, 2024. Total proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Initial Seed Shares were $100,000 . On June 27, 2024, the Initial Seed Shares were redeemed for $100,000 and the Seed Capital Investor purchased two creation units in a cash transaction comprised of a total of 100,000 Shares at a per-Share price based on 380 ether per Creation Unit (or 0.0076 ether per Share), for a total of 760 ether (the “Seed Creation Units”). The cash proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were used by the Fund to purchase 760 ether at the price of $3,446.37 per ether on June 27, 2024 (exclusive of transaction and other costs incurred in connection with the conversion of the cash proceeds to ether, which were paid by the Seed Capital Investor). Thus, the ultimate total proceeds to the Fund from the sale of the Seed Creation Units were $2,619,241.20 (an amount representing 760 ether). As noted above, the transaction and other costs incurred in connection with the Seed Creation Units were paid by the Seed Capital Investor and not borne by the Fund.
The fiscal year end of the Trust and the Fund is March 31st.
2.
SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
In preparing financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”), management of the Sponsor makes estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported amount of revenue and expenses reported during the period. Actual results could differ from these estimates.
The accompanying audited financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP for financial information and with the instructions for Form 10-K and the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
The following is a summary of significant accounting policies followed by the Trust and the Fund.
2.1.
Basis of Presentation
The Sponsor has determined that the Trust falls within the scope of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 946, Financial Services—Investment Companies, and has concluded that solely for accounting purposes, the Trust is classified as an Investment Company as defined in ASC 946. The Trust is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act and is not required to register under such act.
The financial statements are presented for the Fund, which is the sole series of the Trust. Financial statements for the Trust, as the registrant, combined with the Fund are provided separately in this report. For the periods presented, there were no balances or activity for the Trust except for the Fund’s operations, as its sole series. These notes to the financial statements relate to the the Fund, which is the sole series of the Trust. The debts, liabilities, obligations and expenses incurred, contracted for or otherwise existing with respect to the Fund are enforceable only against the assets of the Fund and not against the assets of the Trust generally or any other series that the Trust may establish. Combined financial statements for the Trust, as registrant, and the Fund are presented separately within this report.
2.2.
Calculation of NAV and NAV per Share
The Sponsor has the exclusive authority to determine the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”). The Sponsor has delegated to the Administrator the responsibility to calculate the NAV of the Fund, based on a pricing source selected by the Sponsor. In determining the Fund’s NAV, the Administrator generally will value the ether held by the Fund based on the Index, unless the Sponsor in its sole discretion determines that the index is unreliable. The CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate – New York Variant for the Ether – U.S. Dollar trading pair (the “CF Benchmarks Index”) shall constitute the Index, unless the CF Benchmarks Index is not available or the Sponsor in its sole discretion determines the CF Benchmarks Index is unreliable as the Index and therefore determines not to use the CF Benchmarks Index as the Index. If the CF Benchmarks Index is not available or the Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that the CF Benchmarks Index is unreliable (referred to herein as a “Fair Value Event”), the Fund’s holdings may be fair valued by the Sponsor.
On each Business Day, as soon as practicable after 4:00 PM Eastern Time (“ET”), the Administrator evaluates the ether held by the Fund as reflected by the CF Benchmarks Index and determines the NAV of the Fund. For purposes of making these calculations, a Business Day means any day other than a day when the Cboe BZX Exchange is closed for regular trading. The Trust’s periodic financial statements may not utilize this net asset value of the Trust to the extent the methodology used to calculate the Index is deemed not to be consistent with GAAP.
2.3.
Valuation of Ether
The Fund’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP for annual financial information. Ether is priced at 11:59:59PM ET. With respect to the Fund’s ether holdings, the Trust follows the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC Topic 820”) and utilizes an exchange-traded price from the Fund’s principal market (or in the absence of a principal market, the most advantageous market) for ether as of the Fund’s financial statement measurement date.
ASC 820 established a hierarchy that prioritized inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The three levels of inputs are:
Level 1: Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;
Level 2: Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability either directly or indirectly, including quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not considered to be active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability, and inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means; and
Level 3: Inputs that are unobservable for the asset or liability, including the Fund’s assumptions used in determining the fair value of investments.
As of March 31, 2026 and March 31, 2025, the value of the ether held by the Fund was categorized as Level 1.
2.4.
Fees, Expenses, and Realized Gains (Losses)
The Fund’s only ordinary recurring expense is the Sponsor’s fee. In exchange for the Sponsor’s fee, the Sponsor has agreed to assume the ordinary fees and expenses incurred by the Fund, including but not limited to the following: the fees charged by the Administrator, the Marketing Agent, the Custodians (the Cash Custodian and Ether Custodian, collectively) and the Trustee, Cboe BZX Exchange listing fees, typical maintenance and transaction fees of the DTC, SEC registration fees, printing and mailing costs, tax reporting fees, audit fees, license fees and expenses, and up to $500,000 per annum in ordinary legal fees and expenses. The Sponsor paid the costs of the Fund’s organization and the initial offering costs and will not seek reimbursement of such costs. Ether transactions are accounted for on a trade date basis. Realized gains or losses from the sale or disposition of ether are determined on a specific identification basis and recognized in the Statements of Operations in the period in which the sale or disposition occurs, respectively.
The Sponsor’s fee is accrued daily at an annualized rate equal to 0.19 % (i.e., 0.19 %/365 days) of the net asset value of the Fund and is payable at least quarterly in arrears in U.S. dollars. The Sponsor may, at its sole discretion and from time to time, waive all or a portion of the Sponsor’s fee for stated periods of time. The Fund will sell ether as needed to pay the Sponsor’s fee. The Fund bears transaction costs, including any Ethereum network fees or other similar transaction fees, in connection with any sales of ether necessary to pay the Sponsor’s fee, as well as other Fund expenses (if any) that are not assumed by the Sponsor (expenses assumed by the Sponsor are specified above). Any Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees incurred in connection with the creation or redemption of Creation Units are borne by the Authorized Participant. For the period from July 23, 2024 (the day the Shares were initially listed on the Exchange) to January 31, 2025, the Sponsor agreed to waive the entire Sponsor’s Fee on the first $10.0 billion of the Fund’s assets. For the year ended March 31, 2026, the Fund accrued the Sponsor’s Fee of $108,260 .
The Sponsor is not required to pay any extraordinary or non-routine expenses. The Fund is responsible for the payment of such expenses to the extent any such expenses are incurred. Extraordinary expenses are fees and expenses which are unexpected or unusual in nature, such as legal claims and liabilities and litigation costs or indemnification or other unanticipated expenses. Extraordinary fees and expenses also include material expenses which are not currently anticipated obligations of the Fund. Routine operational, administrative and other ordinary expenses are not deemed extraordinary expenses. In addition, the Fund may incur certain other non-recurring expenses that are not assumed by the Sponsor (expenses assumed by the Sponsor are described above), including but not limited to, taxes and governmental charges, any applicable brokerage commissions, Ethereum network fees and similar transaction fees that qualify as extraordinary or non-routine expenses as described above, financing fees, expenses and costs of any extraordinary services performed by the Sponsor (or any other service provider) on behalf of the Fund to protect the Fund or the interests of Shareholders (including, for example, in connection with any fork of the Ethereum blockchain, any Incidental Rights and any IR Virtual Currency), any indemnification of the Cash Custodian, Ether Custodian, Prime Broker, Administrator or other agents, service providers or counterparties of the Trust or the Fund and extraordinary legal fees and expenses, including any legal fees and expenses incurred in connection with litigation, regulatory enforcement or investigation matters or legal expenses in excess of $500,000 per year. The Sponsor may determine in its sole discretion to assume legal fees and expenses of the Fund in excess of the $500,000 per annum stipulated in the Sponsor Agreement. To the extent that the Sponsor does not voluntarily assume such fees and expenses, they will be the responsibility of the Fund. The Fund’s organizational and offering costs are borne by the Sponsor and, as such, are the sole responsibility of the Sponsor. The Sponsor will not seek reimbursement or otherwise require the Fund, the Trust, the Trustee, or any Shareholder to assume any liability, duty or obligation in connection with any such organizational and offering costs. Because the Fund does not have any income, it will need to sell ether to cover the Sponsor’s fee and expenses not assumed by the Sponsor, if any. Fund expenses not assumed by the Sponsor shall accrue daily and be payable by the Fund to the Sponsor at least quarterly in arrears. The Fund may also be subject to other liabilities (for example, as a result of litigation) that have also not been assumed by the Sponsor. The only source of funds to cover those liabilities will be sales of ether held by the Fund. Even if there are no expenses other than those assumed by the Sponsor, and there are no other liabilities of the Fund, the Fund will still need to sell ether to pay the Sponsor’s fee. The result of these sales is a decrease in the amount of ether represented by each Share.
There have been no extraordinary or non-routine expenses during the periods presented.
2.5.
Ether Receivable and Payable
Ether receivable or payable represents the quantity of Ether covered by contractually binding orders for the creation or redemption of Shares respectively, where the Ether has not yet been transferred to or from the Fund's account. Generally, ownership of the Ether is transferred within one business day of the trade date.
2.6.
Income Taxes
The Fund is classified as a “grantor
trust” for United States federal income tax purposes.
As a
result, the Trust and the Fund are not subject to United States federal income tax. Instead,
the Fund’s income,
gain, losses, and expenses will “flow through”
to the Shareholders, and the
Administrator reports these to
the Internal Revenue Service on that basis.
The Sponsor has analyzed applicable tax laws and regulations and their application to the Trust and the Fund as of March 31, 2026 and 2025, and does not believe that there are any uncertain tax positions that require recognition of a tax liability. March 31, 2026 and 2025 tax years remain open for examination. There were no examinations in progress at period end.
2.7.
Creation and Redemption of Shares
The Fund issues and redeems Creation Units on a continuous basis. Creation Units are issued or redeemed in exchange for an amount of cash as determined by the Administrator on each day that Cboe BZX Exchange is open for regular trading.
For creation transactions, the amount of cash required to be delivered to the Fund will equal the amount of cash needed to purchase the amount of ether represented by the Creation Unit(s) being created, as calculated by the Administrator, plus applicable fees, costs and adjustments. For redemption transactions, the Sponsor will arrange for the ether represented by the Creation Unit(s) being redeemed to be sold and the cash proceeds, after applicable fees, costs and adjustments, distributed. No Shares are issued until the corresponding amount of ether has been received in the Fund’s Trading Balance. Creation Units may be created or redeemed only by Authorized Participants, who pay (1) a transaction fee for each order to create or redeem Creation Units; (2) transfer, processing and other transaction costs charged by the Ether Custodian in connection with the issuance or redemption of Creation Units for such order; and (3) any other expenses, taxes, charges or adjustments.
The Authorized Participants will deliver only cash to create Shares and will receive only cash when redeeming Shares. Further, Authorized Participants will not directly or indirectly purchase, hold, deliver, or receive ether as part of the creation or redemption process or otherwise direct the Fund or a third-party with respect to purchasing, holding, delivering, or receiving ether as part of the creation or redemption process. The Fund will create Shares by receiving ether from a third-party that is not the Authorized Participant and the Fund --not the Authorized Participant --is responsible for selecting the third-party to deliver the ether. Further, the third-party will not be acting as an agent of the Authorized Participant with respect to the delivery of the ether to the Fund or acting at the direction of the Authorized Participant with respect to the delivery of the ether to the Fund. The Fund will redeem shares by delivering ether to a third-party that is not the Authorized Participant and the Fund --not the Authorized Participant --is responsible for selecting the third-party to receive the ether. Further, the third-party will not be acting as an agent of the Authorized Participant with respect to the receipt of the ether from the Fund or acting at the direction of the Authorized Participant with respect to the receipt of the ether from the Fund. The third-party will be unaffiliated with the Fund and the Sponsor.
Creation Units will be sold at a per-Share offering price that will vary depending on, among other things, the price of ether and the trading price of the Shares on the Cboe BZX Exchange at the time of the offer. Shares offered at different times may have different offering prices.
Changes in the Shares for the year from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026 are as follows:
| Shares | Amount# | |||||||
|
Balance at April 1, 2025
|
$ | |||||||
|
Creation of Shares
|
||||||||
| Redemption of Shares | ( |
) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Balance at March 31, 2026
|
$ | |||||||
Changes in the Shares for the period from July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) to March 31, 2025 are as follows:
| Shares | Amount# | |||||||
|
Balance at July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations)
|
$ | ^ | ||||||
|
Creation of Shares
|
||||||||
|
Redemption of Shares
|
( |
) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Balance at March 31, 2025
|
$ | |||||||
#
^
3.
INVESTMENT IN ETHER
The following represents the changes in quantity of ether held and the respective fair value during the year from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026:
| Quantity of ether | Amount in US$ | |||||||
|
Balance at April 1, 2025
|
$ | |||||||
|
Ether purchased for the creation of Shares
|
||||||||
|
Ether sold for the redemption of Shares
|
( |
) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Principal on ether sales to pay expenses
|
( |
) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net realized gain (loss) from ether sold for the redemption of shares and sold to pay expenses
|
- | |||||||
|
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments in ether
|
- | ( | ) | |||||
|
Balance at March 31, 2026
|
$ | |||||||
The following represents the changes in quantity of ether held and the respective fair value during the period from July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) to March 31, 2025:
| Quantity of ether | Amount in US$ | |||||||
|
Balance at July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations)
|
$ | ^ | ||||||
|
Ether purchased for the creation of Shares
|
||||||||
|
Ether sold for the redemption of Shares
|
( |
) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Principal on ether sales to pay expenses
|
||||||||
|
Net realized gain (loss) from ether sold for the redemption of shares and sold to pay expenses
|
- | ( | ) | |||||
|
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments in ether
|
- | ( | ) | |||||
|
Balance at March 31, 2025
|
$ | |||||||
^
4.
RELATED PARTIES
The Sponsor of the Trust is Franklin Holdings, LLC. The Sponsor is responsible for establishing the Trust and for the registration of the Shares. The Sponsor generally oversees the performance of the Fund’s principal service providers but does not exercise day-to-day oversight over such service providers. The Sponsor, with assistance and support from the Administrator, is responsible for preparing and filing periodic reports on behalf of the Trust and the Fund with the SEC and will provide any required certification for such reports. The Sponsor has designated the independent registered public accounting firm of the Trust on behalf of the Fund and may from time to time employ legal counsel for the Fund.
Franklin Distributors, LLC serves as the Marketing Agent of the Fund. The Sponsor and the Marketing Agent are affiliates, and each is considered to be a related party to the Trust and the Fund. Franklin Resources, Inc. (“FRI”) is the ultimate parent company of the Sponsor and the Marketing Agent. FRI is the holding company for various subsidiaries that together are referred to as Franklin Templeton.
The Sponsor is a related party of the Trust and the Fund. The Fund pays the Sponsor a unitary fee for services performed pursuant to the Sponsor Agreement. The Marketing Agent is an affiliate of the Sponsor. Expenses payable to the Marketing Agent, if any, are paid through the Sponsor’s fee.
The Trust also considers Franklin Resources, Inc., the ultimate parent company of the Sponsor, to be a related party of the Trust and the Fund. As of March 31, 2026, no shares of the Fund were held by a related party.
5.
CONCENTRATION OF RISK
The Fund holds only ether and cash, which creates a concentration risk associated with fluctuations in the price of ether. Accordingly, a decline in the price of ether will have an adverse effect on the value of the Shares of the Fund. The trading prices of ether have experienced extreme volatility in recent periods and may continue to fluctuate significantly. Extreme volatility in the future, including substantial, sustained, or rapid declines in the trading prices of ether, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Shares and the Shares could lose all or substantially all of their value. Factors adversely impacting the value of ether and the Shares may include an increase in the global ether supply or a decrease in global ether demand; market conditions of, and overall sentiment towards, the digital assets and blockchain technology industry; trading activity on digital asset platforms, which, in many cases, may be unregulated or subject to regulation by a relevant jurisdiction but potentially non-compliant with such regulations or may be subject to manipulation; the adoption of ether as a medium of exchange, store-of-value or other consumptive asset and the maintenance and development of the open-source software protocol of the Ethereum network, and their ability to meet user demands; manipulative trading activity on digital asset platforms; and forks in the Ethereum network, among other things.
6.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
| For the Year Ended March 31, 2026 | For the period July 23, 2024 (Date of commencement of operations) through March 31, 2025 | |||||||
|
Net asset value per Share, beginning of year
|
$ | $ | (a) | |||||
|
Net investment loss(b)
|
( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
|
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investment in ether(c)
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net change in net assets from operations
|
( | ) | ||||||
|
Net asset value per Share, end of year
|
$ | $ | ||||||
|
Total return, at net asset value(e)
|
% | ( | )%(d) | |||||
|
Ratio to average net assets
|
||||||||
|
Net investment loss
|
( | )% | ( | )%(f) | ||||
|
Gross expenses
|
% | %(f) | ||||||
|
Net expenses
|
% | %(f) |
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
7.
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
In the normal course of business, the Trust, on behalf of the Fund, may enter into contracts with service providers that contain general indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred.
8.
INDEMNIFICATION
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, the Sponsor and its shareholders, members, directors, affiliates, officers, employees and subsidiaries are indemnified by the Trust against certain liabilities. The Fund has also agreed to indemnify certain of its other service providers, including the Administrator, the Marketing Agent, the Custodians and the Trustee (including its officers, affiliates, directors, employees, and agents), for certain liabilities incurred by such parties in connection with their respective agreements to provide services for the Fund.
The Sponsor will not be liable to the Trust, the Trustee or any Shareholder for any action taken or for refraining from taking any action in good faith, or for errors in judgment or for depreciation or loss incurred by reason of the sale of any ether or other assets of the Fund or the Trust. However, the preceding liability exclusion will not protect the Sponsor against any liability resulting from its own gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct.
The Sponsor and each of its shareholders, members, directors, officers, employees, affiliates and subsidiaries will be indemnified by the Trust and held harmless against any losses, liabilities or expenses incurred in the performance of its duties under the Declaration of Trust without gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct. The Sponsor may rely in good faith on any paper, order, notice, list, affidavit, receipt, evaluation, opinion, endorsement, assignment, draft or any other document of any kind prima facie properly executed and submitted to it by the Trustee, the Trustee’s counsel or by any other person for any matters arising under the Declaration of Trust. The Sponsor shall in no event be deemed to have assumed or incurred any liability, duty, or obligation to any Shareholder or to the Trustee other than as expressly provided for in the Declaration of Trust. Such indemnity includes payment from the Trust of the costs and expenses incurred in defending against any indemnified claim or liability under the Declaration of Trust.
The Trustee will not be liable or accountable to the Trust or any other person or under any agreement to which the Trust or any series of the Trust is a party, except for the Trustee’s breach of its obligations pursuant to the Declaration of Trust or its own willful misconduct, bad faith or gross negligence. The Trustee and each of the Trustee’s officers, affiliates, directors, employees, and agents will be indemnified by the Trust from and against any losses, claims, taxes, damages, reasonable expenses, and liabilities incurred with respect to the creation, operation or termination of the Trust, the execution, delivery or performance of the Declaration of Trust or the transactions contemplated thereby; provided that the indemnified party acted without willful misconduct, bad faith or gross negligence.
9.
OPERATING SEGMENTS
The Fund, which is the sole series of the Trust, and the Trust operate as a operating segment, which is an investment portfolio. Executive officers of the Fund’s Sponsor perform the functions of the Chief Operating Decision Maker (CODM), evaluating fund-wide results and performance under a unified investment strategy. The CODM uses these measures to assess fund performance and allocate resources effectively. Internal reporting provided to the CODM aligns with the accounting policies and measurement principles used in the financial statements.
For information regarding segment assets, segment profit or loss, and significant expenses, refer to the Statements of Assets and Liabilities and the Statements of Operations, along with the related Notes to Financial Statements. The Schedules of Investments provide details of the Fund’s investments that generate returns such as realized and unrealized gains or losses. Performance metrics and expense ratios are disclosed in the Financial Highlights.
10.
SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Trust and the Fund have evaluated subsequent events through the issuance of the financial statements and determined that no such events have occurred that require disclosure.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned in the capacities* indicated thereunto duly authorized.
Franklin Holdings, LLC
Sponsor of Franklin Ethereum Trust (Registrant)
|
By:
|
/s/ David Mann
| |
|
David Mann*
| ||
|
President and Chief Executive Officer
| ||
|
(serving in the capacity of principal executive officer)
| ||
|
By:
|
/s/ Christopher Kings
| |
|
Christopher Kings*
| ||
|
Chief Financial Officer
| ||
|
(serving in the capacity of principal financial officer)
|
Date: June 29, 2026
*
The registrant is a trust and the person is signing in his capacity as an officer of Franklin Holdings, LLC, the Sponsor of the registrant.
F-28
Exhibit 4.3
Description of Securities Registered Under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
The following is a summary of the rights of the common units of fractional undivided beneficial interest (the “Shares”) of Franklin Ethereum ETF (the “Fund”) series of the Franklin Ethereum Trust (the “Trust”), which is the only class of securities of the Trust that is registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). The description is intended as a summary, and is qualified in its entirety by reference the Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, executed as of May 30, 2024 between the CSC Delaware Trust Company, a subsidiary of Corporation Service Company (the “Trustee”), and Franklin Holdings, LLC (the “Sponsor”), as may be amended from time to time (the “Declaration of Trust”), a copy of which has been filed as an exhibit to the Trust’s Registration Statement on Form S-1. Terms used but not defined herein have the meaning set forth in the Trust’s Annual Report on Form 10‑K for the year ended March 31, 2026, of which this exhibit is a part.
General
The Trust operates pursuant to the Declaration of Trust. The Fund is authorized to create and issue an unlimited number of Shares. Shares will be issued only in blocks aggregated as Creation Units (a Creation Unit equals a block of 50,000 Shares). The Shares represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in and ownership of the Fund and have no par value. The Shares are quoted on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. under the ticker symbol “EZET.”
Description of Limited Rights
The Shares do not represent a traditional investment in stock of a listed operating company and should not be viewed as similar to “shares” of a corporation operating a business enterprise with management and a board of directors. A Shareholder will not have the statutory rights normally associated with the ownership of shares of a corporation. All Shares are of the same class with equal rights and privileges. Each Share is transferable, is fully paid and non‑assessable. Except in limited circumstances, Shareholders will have no voting rights under the Declaration of Trust.
Voting and Approvals
Under the Declaration of Trust, Shareholders generally have no voting rights except in limited circumstances. The Fund will not have regular Shareholder meetings. Shareholders take no part in the management or control of the Fund. Accordingly, Shareholders do not have the right to authorize actions, appoint service providers or take other actions as may be taken by shareholders of other trusts or companies where shares carry such rights. Each Share entitles the holder to vote on the limited matters upon which Shareholders may vote as specified in the Declaration of Trust. The Shares do not entitle their holders to any conversion or pre-emptive rights or any redemption rights.
1
The Shareholders’ limited voting rights give almost all control under the Declaration of Trust to the Sponsor and the Trustee. The Sponsor generally has the right to amend the Declaration of Trust as it applies to the Trust and the Fund and Shareholders will have the right to vote only if expressly required under Delaware or federal law or rules or regulations of the Exchange, or if submitted to the Shareholders by the Sponsor in its sole discretion. The Sponsor may take actions in the operation of the Trust and the Fund that may be adverse to the interests of Shareholders and may adversely affect the value of the Shares.
Derivative Actions
Pursuant to the terms of the Declaration of Trust, Shareholders’ statutory right under Delaware law to bring a derivative action (i.e., to initiate a lawsuit in the name of the Trust in order to assert a claim belonging to the Trust against a fiduciary of the Trust or against a third-party when the Trust’s management has refused to do so) is restricted. Under Delaware law, a shareholder may bring a derivative action if the shareholder is a shareholder at the time the action is brought and either (i) was a shareholder at the time of the transaction at issue or (ii) acquired the status of shareholder by operation of law or the Trust’s governing instrument from a person who was a shareholder at the time of the transaction at issue. Additionally, Section 3816(e) of the Delaware Statutory Trust Act specifically provides that a “beneficial owner’s right to bring a derivative action may be subject to such additional standards and restrictions, if any, as are set forth in the governing instrument of the statutory trust, including, without limitation, the requirement that beneficial owners owning a specified beneficial interest in the statutory trust join in the bringing of the derivative action.”
In addition to the requirements of applicable law and in accordance with Section 3816(e), the Declaration of Trust includes conditions that require (1) a Shareholder or Shareholders to make a pre-suit demand upon the Sponsor to bring the subject action unless an effort to cause the Sponsor to bring such an action is not likely to succeed (a demand on the Sponsor shall only be deemed not likely to succeed and therefore excused if the Sponsor has a personal financial interest in the transaction at issue) and (2) Shareholders eligible to bring a derivative action under the Delaware Statutory Trust Act who hold at least 10% of the outstanding Shares of the Trust, or 10% of the outstanding Shares of the Series or Class to which such action relates, must join in a request for the Sponsor to commence such action. This provision applies to any derivative actions brought in the name of the Trust other than claims under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Due to these requirements, a Shareholder attempting to bring or maintain a derivative action in the name of the Trust will be required to have sufficient Shares to meet the 10% threshold based on the number of Shares outstanding on the date the claim is brought and thereafter throughout the duration of the action, suit or proceeding.
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Cash and Other Distributions
If the Sponsor and the Administrator determine that there is more cash being held in the Fund than is needed to pay the Fund’s expenses for the next month (or, if later, the end of the current calendar quarter), the Administrator will distribute the extra cash to DTC. If the Fund receives cash (other than in connection with purchase orders), or any property other than ether or cash (other than any Incidental Rights or IR Virtual Currency), the Administrator may distribute that property to DTC by any means the Sponsor thinks is lawful, equitable and feasible. If it cannot make the distribution in that way, the Administrator may (at the instruction of the Sponsor) sell the property and distribute the net proceeds, in the same way as it does with cash. The Administrator and the Sponsor shall not be liable for any loss or depreciation resulting from any sale or other disposition of property made by the Administrator pursuant to the Sponsor’s instruction or otherwise made by the Administrator in good faith. With respect to any non-ether crypto asset (including Incidental Rights or IR Virtual Currency), the Sponsor will cause the Fund to irrevocably abandon such non-ether crypto asset.
Registered holders of Shares are entitled to receive these distributions in proportion to the number of Shares owned. Before making a distribution, the Administrator may deduct any applicable withholding taxes and any fees and expenses of the Fund that have not been paid. The Administrator distributes only whole U.S. dollars and cents and is not required to round fractional cents to the nearest whole cent. The Sponsor is not responsible if it decides that it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to registered holders.
Creation and Redemption of Shares
The Fund creates and redeems Shares aggregated in Creation Units in transactions with Authorized Participants on a continuous basis. A Creation Unit equals 50,000 Shares. Creation Units are issued or redeemed in exchange for an amount of ether and/or cash as determined by the Administrator on each day that Cboe BZX Exchange is open for regular trading.
The Securities Depository; Book-Entry-Only System; Global Security
Individual certificates will not be issued for the Shares. Instead, one or more global certificates will be signed by the Administrator and the Sponsor on behalf of the Fund, registered in the name of Cede & Co., as nominee for DTC, and deposited with the Administrator on behalf of DTC. The global certificates will evidence all of the Shares outstanding at any time. The representations, undertakings and agreements made on the part of the Fund in the global certificates are made and intended for the purpose of binding only the Fund and not the Administrator or the Sponsor individually.
Upon the settlement date of any creation, transfer or redemption of Shares, DTC will credit or debit, on its book-entry registration and transfer system, the amount of the Shares so created, transferred or redeemed to the accounts of the appropriate DTC Participants. The Administrator and the Authorized Participants will designate the accounts to be credited and charged in the case of creation or redemption of Shares.
Beneficial ownership of the Shares will be limited to DTC Participants, Indirect Participants and persons holding interests through DTC Participants and Indirect Participants. Owners of beneficial interests in the Shares will be shown on, and the transfer of ownership will be effected only through, records maintained by DTC (with respect to DTC Participants), the records of DTC Participants (with respect to Indirect Participants), and the records of Indirect Participants (with respect to Shareholders that are not DTC Participants or Indirect Participants). Shareholders are expected to receive from or through the DTC Participant maintaining the account through which the Shareholder has purchased their Shares a written confirmation relating to such purchase.
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Shareholders that are not DTC Participants may transfer the Shares through DTC by instructing the DTC Participant or Indirect Participant through which the Shareholders hold their Shares to transfer the Shares. Shareholders that are DTC Participants may transfer the Shares by instructing DTC in accordance with the rules of DTC. Transfers will be made in accordance with standard securities industry practice.
Share Splits
If the Sponsor believes that the per Share price in the secondary market for Shares has fallen outside a desirable trading price range or if the Sponsor determines that it is advisable for any reason, the Sponsor may cause the Fund to declare a split or reverse split in the number of Shares outstanding and to make a corresponding change in the number of Shares constituting a Creation Unit.
Exhibit 19.1
This Code of Ethics and Business Conduct (this “Code”) has been adopted by the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Franklin Resources, Inc. (“Franklin”) in connection with its oversight of the management and business affairs of Franklin.
1.
Purpose and Overview.
(a)
Application. This Code is applicable to all officers, directors, employees and temporary employees (each, a “Covered Person”) of Franklin and all of its United States (“U.S.”) and non-U.S. subsidiaries and affiliates, including specialist investment managers (“SIMs”) (Franklin and such entities collectively, the “Company” or “Franklin Templeton”). Many subsidiaries, affiliates and/or business units within the Company, including SIMs, have adopted individual policies and procedures on various topics, including topics covered by this Code, that may be different from and, in some cases, more restrictive than, this Code. Covered Persons must know and comply with any such policies and procedures that apply to them. When this Code conflicts with another Company policy or procedure, Covered Persons must comply with the more restrictive provision.
(b)
Purpose. This Code summarizes the values, principles and business practices that guide the business conduct of the Company and also provides a set of basic principles to guide Covered Persons regarding the minimum ethical requirements expected of them. This Code supplements the Company’s existing employee policies, including those specified in applicable U.S. or non-U.S. employee handbooks. All Covered Persons are expected to become familiar with this Code and to apply these principles in the daily performance of their jobs.
This Code is intended to promote each Covered Person’s awareness of their responsibilities on a variety of legal and ethical issues and to help each Covered Person determine the appropriate course of action under a variety of circumstances. This Code is not intended to cover every ethical issue that a Covered Person may confront while working or serving for the Company, but it sets out basic principles designed to guide Covered Persons in their conduct.
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(c)
Overriding Responsibilities. It is the responsibility of all Covered Persons to maintain a work environment that fosters fairness, respect and integrity. The Company requires all Covered Persons to conduct themselves in a lawful, honest and ethical manner in all of the Company’s business practices. A Covered Person must never compromise these ethics, or even give the appearance that they may have done so.
(d)
Questions. Covered Persons should contact their supervisor or manager, representatives of Human Resources, their local Legal and Compliance resources, Franklin Templeton’s Legal or Regulatory Compliance groups, or the General Counsel of Franklin, for additional guidance or if there is any question about issues discussed in this Code.
(e)
Violations. If any Covered Person observes possible unethical or illegal conduct, such concerns or complaints should be reported as set forth in Section 16 below.
(f)
Definition of Executive Officer. For the purposes of this Code, the term “Executive Officer” shall mean those officers, as shall be determined by the Board from time to time, who are subject to the reporting obligations of Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
(g)
Definition of Director. For purposes of this Code, the term “Director” shall mean a member of the Board.
(h)
Definition of Government Agency. For purposes of this Code, the term “Government Agency” includes any U.S. or non-U.S. national, federal, provincial, regional, state, or local government agency, commission or legislative body, or self-regulatory organization, including, by way of representative example only, any securities, financial, employment and labor regulators.
2.
Compliance with Laws, Rules and Regulations. The Company operates in a highly regulated industry. While a Covered Person is not expected to be an expert on all applicable laws and regulations, each Covered Person is expected to know the laws and regulations well enough to recognize when an issue arises and to seek the advice of their local Legal and Compliance resources for support. All Covered Persons of the Company are required to comply with all of the applicable laws, rules and regulations of the U.S. and other countries, and the states, counties, cities and other jurisdictions, in which the Company conducts its business, although traffic violations and other minor offenses will not be considered violations of this Code. Local laws may in some instances be less restrictive than the principles set forth in this Code. In those situations, Covered Persons should comply with this Code, even if the conduct would otherwise be legal under applicable local laws. On the other hand, if local laws are more restrictive than this Code, Covered Persons should comply with applicable local laws. Further, any provision of this Code that is contrary to law in a particular jurisdiction will have no force or effect in that jurisdiction solely with respect to such provision(s), although this Code (including any such provision) will remain applicable in all other jurisdictions.
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3.
Securities Transactions.
(a)
Insider Trading. Material non-public information is often referred to as inside information. Covered Persons must comply with applicable insider trading laws and Company insider trading policies that prohibit Covered Persons from trading securities, or encouraging others to trade securities, or recommending securities, either personally or on behalf of others, while in possession of applicable material non-public information or communicating such material non-public information to others in violation of the law. Securities include common stocks, bonds, options, futures and other financial instruments. Material information includes any information that a reasonable investor would consider important in a decision to buy, hold, or sell securities, or any information that could reasonably be expected to affect the price of such securities. Information about an issuer is non-public if it has not been publicly disclosed or released. In addition, sharing inside information with another person who buys or sells securities is known as “tipping” and is illegal, even if there is no personal pecuniary benefit. Applicable insider trading laws provide substantial civil and criminal penalties for companies and individuals who fail to comply. Insider trading restrictions are described in more detail in applicable Company insider trading policies, various Company employee handbooks and compliance policies. In addition, the Company has implemented trading restrictions to reduce the risk, or appearance, of insider trading.
(b)
Rule 10b5-1(c) Plans. The Company may permit exemptions from the insider trading policies and procedures described above for transactions in securities issued by Franklin effected pursuant to pre-approved, written trading plans or arrangements complying with Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Rule 10b5-1(c) plans or arrangements may not be entered into or modified either during trading blackout periods or when the Covered Person is aware of material, non-public information relating to Franklin or its securities. All such plans or arrangements (and any modification or termination thereof) must be pre-approved by the General Counsel of Franklin (or such person’s designee).
(c)
Rumors. The dissemination of false or misleading information about companies or securities, particularly in volatile or fragile market conditions, can be a damaging form of market abuse, which can affect both the firm concerned as well as general market conditions. It is against the law to start or circulate a rumor (defined as “information that is circulated purporting to be fact but which has not yet been verified”) if that rumor is likely to influence the market price of that security or that a reasonable person would expect to have a material effect on the price of a security if it were widely circulated. Starting or disseminating any rumor with the intention of influencing the price movement of a security is a breach of this Code and may also constitute a violation of securities laws.
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(d)
Short Sales. Covered Persons are prohibited from effecting short sales, including “short sales against the box” of securities issued by Franklin and securities issued by any closed-end fund sponsored or advised by the Company. Also prohibited are economically equivalent transactions, whether in the form of call or put options, swap transactions or other derivative transactions, that would result in a Covered Person having a net short exposure to Franklin or any closed-end fund sponsored or advised by the Company.
(e)
Short-term Trading. Covered Persons must comply with the Frequent Trading Policy described in the prospectus of each fund in which they invest and must not engage in trading activity that violates that policy. Accordingly, Covered Persons must not engage in any short-term or excessive trading in funds. Violations are subject to discipline, including termination of employment and permanent suspension of such person’s ability to purchase shares in any funds.
(f)
Pledged Securities.
(i)
Unless otherwise previously approved by the Company’s Compensation Committee, Directors and Executive Officers are prohibited from directly or indirectly pledging, hypothecating or otherwise encumbering securities issued by Franklin as collateral for indebtedness. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, holding such securities in a margin account that could cause securities issued by Franklin to be subject to a margin call or serve as collateral for a margin loan. Securities issued by Franklin which were not received by the Director or Executive Officer as compensation are not subject to this prohibition, provided that the pledge of such securities does not cause the holder to be out of compliance with applicable Stock Ownership Guidelines.
(ii)
If any person has subject securities issued by Franklin pledged as collateral or held in a margin account when such person becomes a Director or Executive Officer, the pledge must be released within one year from the date the person becomes a Director or Executive Officer.
(iii)
Any pledged securities under this provision shall remain subject to Franklin’s Trading Blackout Policy.
(g)
Questions Regarding Securities Transactions. All questions regarding insider trading or reports of impropriety in connection with securities transactions should be directed to Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group or through the applicable local Legal and Compliance resources. See also Section 16 below.
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4.
Conflicts of Interest.
(a)
Avoidance of Conflicts. All Covered Persons are required to conduct themselves in a manner and with such ethics and integrity so as to avoid a conflict of interest, either real or apparent.
(b)
Conflict of Interest Defined. A conflict of interest is any circumstance where an individual’s personal interest interferes with the interests of the Company. All Covered Persons have a duty to avoid financial, business or other relationships that might be opposed to the interests of the Company or might cause a conflict with the performance of their duties.
(c)
Potential Conflict Situations. A conflict can arise when a Covered Person takes actions or has interests that may make it difficult to perform their Company-related work objectively and effectively. Conflicts also may arise when a Covered Person, or a member of their family, receives improper personal benefits as a result of their position in the Company.
(d)
Examples of Potential Conflicts. Some of the areas where a conflict could arise include:
(i)
Employment by a competitor, regardless of the nature of the employment, while employed by the Company.
(ii)
Placement of business with any firm or organization in which a Covered Person, or any member of the Covered Person’s family, has a substantial ownership interest or management responsibility.
(iii)
Making endorsements or testimonials for third parties.
(iv)
Processing a transaction on the Covered Person’s personal account(s), or their friends’ or family members’ account(s), through the Company’s internal systems without first submitting the transaction request to the Company’s Customer Service Center.
(v)
Disclosing the Company’s confidential information to a third party (other than as permitted in accordance with Section 9 below) without the prior consent of senior management.
(e)
Questions Regarding Conflicts. All questions regarding conflicts of interest and whether a particular situation constitutes a conflict of interest should be directed to Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group or through the applicable local Legal and Compliance resources. See also Section 16 below.
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5.
Corporate Opportunities. Covered Persons are prohibited from (i) taking for themselves opportunities that are discovered through the use of Company property, information or position, (ii) using Company property, information or position for personal gain, and/or (iii) competing with the Company. For example, to the extent that a Covered Person learns of an investment opportunity because of their position with the Company, the Covered Person must not disadvantage fund or client accounts by personally taking advantage of the trading opportunity.
6.
Gifts, Entertainment and Contributions.
(a)
Receipt of Gifts and Entertainment. The Company’s aim is to deter providers of gifts or entertainment from seeking or receiving special favors from Covered Persons in connection with activities performed by or for, or business relationships established with, the Company. The concern is that gifts of more than a nominal value may cause Covered Persons to feel placed in a position of “obligation” and/or give the appearance of a conflict of interest. Covered Persons should not solicit any third party for any gift, gratuity, entertainment or any other item regardless of its value. Covered Persons, including members of their immediate families, may accept or participate in “reasonable entertainment.” Covered Persons are encouraged to be guided by their own sense of ethical responsibility, along with any policies or guidelines adopted from time to time by the Company with respect to gifts and entertainment. This Section 6 is not intended to limit Directors who do not also serve in management positions within the Company from accepting compensation, bonuses, fees and other similar consideration paid in the normal course of business as a result of their outside business activity, employment or directorships.
(b)
Anti-Corruption. All Covered Persons are strictly prohibited from offering or giving gifts, meals or entertainment to business partners or others (including government officials, government employees, certain other government-related entities and persons, and certain family members of the foregoing) in order to improperly influence them. Covered Persons should consult the Company’s Anti-Corruption Policy before providing gifts or other items of value, including entertainment and travel, to others and should seek to avoid even the appearance of any impropriety. Covered Persons should be aware that practices that may be acceptable in the commercial business environment (such as providing certain transportation, meals, entertainment and other things of value) may be unacceptable and even illegal when they involve government officials, government employees, certain other government-related entities and persons, or certain family members of the foregoing, or others who act on behalf of government entities or persons. Therefore, Covered Persons are required to comply with the relevant laws and regulations governing relations between government officials, government employees and related entities or persons, on the one hand, and customers and suppliers, on the other hand, in every country where the Company conducts business.
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Additional information regarding anti-corruption can be found in the Company’s Anti-Corruption Policy. In addition to these responsibilities, Covered Persons should also remember that a number of the Company’s subsidiaries, affiliates and/or business units have specific policies and procedures relating to the prevention of money laundering. Covered Persons must know and comply with any such policies and procedures that apply to them.
(c)
Political Contributions.
(i)
Election laws in many jurisdictions generally prohibit political contributions by corporations to candidates. Many local laws also prohibit corporate contributions to local political campaigns. In accordance with these laws, the Company does not make direct contributions to any candidates for federal, state or local offices where applicable laws make such contributions illegal and, in such cases, contributions to political campaigns must not be made with or reimbursed by the Company’s funds or resources. The Company’s resources include, but are not limited to, the Company’s facilities, office supplies, letterhead, computer equipment, telephones and fax machines.
Political contributions by the Company are subject to restriction and require prior approval by designated members of senior management within the Company.
(ii)
Employee’s personal political contributions also may be restricted by U.S. and non-U.S. federal, state or local election laws. For certain employees associated with U.S.-registered investment advisers, political contributions are highly restricted and require prior approval and reporting. Employees of regulated entities such as investment advisers or broker/dealers should look to their specific policies and procedures and/or ask their relevant local Legal and Compliance resources for further guidance. The Legal and Compliance resources should escalate applicable questions and concerns regarding political contributions to Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group as necessary.
7.
Outside Employment/Business Activities.
(a)
Restrictions. Subject to any applicable departmental or other restrictions, Covered Persons are permitted to engage in outside employment/outside business activity (“Outside Activity”) if it is free of any actions that could be considered a conflict of interest in accordance with the Company’s applicable requirements, policies and processes. Outside Activity must not adversely affect a Covered Person’s job performance at the Company, and Outside Activity must not result in absenteeism, tardiness or a Covered Person’s inability to work overtime when requested or required. Covered Persons may not engage in Outside Activity that requires or involves using Company time, materials, resources, trademarks, intellectual property, or confidential or other proprietary information or data.
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(b)
Self-Employment. For purposes of this Code, Outside Activity includes self-employment.
(c)
Required Approvals. Due to the fiduciary nature of the Company’s business, there may be potential conflicts of interest that could result from a Covered Person’s Outside Activity. Employees should look to their local policies and/or ask their relevant Legal and Compliance resources or Human Resources for further guidance prior to entering any Outside Activity.
(d)
Outside Directors Exempt. This Section 7 is not applicable to Directors who do not also serve in management positions within the Company.
8.
Service as a Director. Covered Persons who wish to serve as a director or trustee (or in a similar capacity) for a non-affiliated, for-profit, public or private company or entity should consult the Company’s Employee Service as an Outside Director Policy. With respect to non-affiliated, for-profit public entities, Covered Persons may not serve as a director, trustee, or in a similar capacity for any for-profit public entity without approval from an appropriate member of Franklin’s Executive Committee and the Head or Co-Head of Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group, or their respective designees. Covered Persons who are interested in serving on a board of directors, as a trustee or in a similar capacity should, in the first instance, consult with their relevant local Legal and Compliance resources and review and comply with other policies that may apply. This Section 8 is not applicable to Directors who do not also serve in management positions within the Company.
9.
Confidential Information Obligations.
(a)
Confidentiality. Covered Persons are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of information entrusted to them as a result of their roles with the Company, except when disclosure is authorized or legally mandated. The sensitive nature of the investment business requires that Covered Persons be continuously aware of the confidential nature of the information to which they may have access.
As a result of employment or service with the Company, a Covered Person may produce, receive, or become acquainted with the confidential information or trade secrets of the Company, information the Company has received from others that the Company is required to treat as confidential, including information concerning the Company’s employees, stockholders, clients, customers, business partners, and mutual fund shareholders and other product investors, and other commercially sensitive information the privacy, confidentiality, and secrecy of which is valued by the Company (collectively, “Confidential Information”). Each Covered Person must comply with all applicable Company policies concerning confidentiality and/or public statements, as they may be amended from time to time.
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(b)
What Is Included in Confidential Information. Confidential Information includes, without limitation, non-public corporate and mutual fund and other product: financial information, including cost and performance data, debt arrangements, equity structure, investors and holdings, purchasing and sales data, and pricing lists or schedules; client and business prospect identities and information (including but not limited to financial advisors and consultants and sales information); marketing strategies and methods; market analyses or projections; products, services, and the pricing for same; business plans, strategies, methods, templates, models, policies and procedures; software, databases, hardware configurations, or other technology or tools created, developed or compiled by the Company; formulas, discoveries, inventions, designs, improvements, concepts and ideas; client, supplier, or other third party confidential and/or proprietary information received in confidence by the Company, and any information that may be subject to non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements between the Company and said parties; any confidential and privileged legal advice given to the Company, which legal privilege belongs to the Company; applicant and employee private or otherwise protected information or data obtained by a Covered Person in connection with the Covered Person’s employment or service with the Company, including, but not limited to, personal information contained in applications and resumes submitted to the Company and in Company performance evaluations, and Company termination information and agreements not otherwise available outside of the Company; the Company’s internal reporting or organizational structure information and personnel lists; and the Company’s compensation structure and formula information (except with respect to a Covered Person’s own compensation amount) for any business purpose competitive to the Company.
Nothing herein is intended to prohibit, limit, or dissuade (or create or suggest any understanding of a Covered Person’s rights that would prohibit, limit, or dissuade) a Covered Person from engaging in activities protected by applicable law, including under U.S. federal or state law, such as the National Labor Relations Act or under any similar laws in other jurisdictions, for example by communicating with fellow employees or others about their wages, hours, workplace complaints, benefits or other terms of employment.
Confidential Information shall not include information that has become generally available to the public by the act of one who has the right to disclose such information without violating any right or privilege of the Company, the Company’s employees, or the Company’s business partners, stockholders, clients, mutual fund shareholders or other product investors.
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(c)
Disclosure Restrictions. Except as provided in Section 9(e) below, both during a Covered Person’s employment or service with the Company (except where use and/or disclosure is required and authorized in connection with the Covered Person’s enumerated job duties to third parties with confidentiality obligations to the Company) and after a Covered Person’s employment or service with the Company ends for any reason, a Covered Person must: (i) keep the Confidential Information confidential; (ii) not disclose any Confidential Information to any non-governmental third parties, including without limitation any former Company employees, without the prior consent of senior management; and (iii) not use Confidential Information for the Covered Person’s personal benefit or for the benefit of any third party.
(d)
Continuing Obligations. The obligations under this Code shall: (i) with regard to Confidential Information, remain in effect for so long as such information constitutes Confidential Information as defined in this Code; and (ii) with regard to any trade secret specifically, remain in effect for as long as such information constitutes a trade secret as defined by applicable law.
(e)
Exception For Disclosure to a Government Agency. Nothing in this Code shall limit or interfere with a Covered Person’s right to file a charge or complaint with any Government Agency or ability, without notice to or authorization from the Company, to communicate with any Government Agency for the purpose of reporting a reasonable belief that a possible violation of law has occurred or may occur, or to participate, cooperate, provide information or cause information to be provided (including documents) or testify in any inquiry, investigation, proceeding or action that may be conducted by any Government Agency.
(f)
Responding to Legal Process. Separately, to the extent a Covered Person receives any subpoena, court order, or other legal process issued in any private litigation or arbitration regarding any matter or action involving the Company, then to the extent permitted by law or regulation, the Covered Person shall, before providing any Confidential Information, give prompt prior written notice to the Company’s General Counsel, or to the Covered Person’s local Legal and Compliance resources who will then escalate to Franklin Templeton’s Legal or Regulatory Compliance groups as necessary in order to provide the Company with a reasonable opportunity to take appropriate steps to protect its Confidential Information to the fullest extent possible.
(g)
Acknowledgments. Upon request, all Covered Persons of the Company are expected to sign an agreement or acknowledgment regarding the confidentiality terms set forth herein, including from time to time as the Company may amend its confidentiality provisions.
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10.
Ownership of Intellectual Property.
(a)
Company Ownership. The Company owns all Intellectual Property, as defined below, in all of the works and inventions created or made by a Covered Person at and/or for the Company, whether partial or completed. A Covered Person shall hold on trust for, and is obligated to assign to, the Company all Intellectual Property that does not by operation of law in any specific jurisdiction automatically vest in the Company, in any works or inventions that the Covered Person creates or develops, alone or with others, while working for the Company.
(b)
What Is Included in Intellectual Property. “Intellectual Property” includes all trademarks and service marks, trade secrets, patents and patent subject matter and inventor rights in the U.S. and foreign countries and related applications. It includes all U.S. and foreign copyrights and subject matter and all other literary property and author rights, whether or not copyrightable. It includes all creations, not limited to inventions, discoveries, developments, works of authorship, ideas and know-how. It does not matter whether or not the Company can protect them by patent, copyright, trade secrets, trade names, trade or service marks or other intellectual property right. It also includes all materials containing any intellectual property. These materials include but are not limited to flash drives and other electronic media storage devices now known or hereafter developed, electronic files, printouts, notebooks, drawings, artwork and other record types, media, or documentation. To the extent applicable, non-trade secret intellectual property constitutes a “work made for hire” owned by the Company.
(c)
Exceptions. The Company will not be considered to have a proprietary interest in a Covered Person’s work product if: (i) the work product is developed entirely on the Covered Person’s own time without the use or aid of any Company resources, including without limitation, equipment, supplies, facilities, or Confidential Information; (ii) the work product does not result from the Covered Person’s employment with the Company; and (iii) at the time a Covered Person conceives or reduces the creation to practice, it is neither related to the Company’s business nor the Company’s actual or expected research or development.
(d)
Required Disclosure and Cooperation. Upon request, a Covered Person must promptly disclose in writing to the Company, including through their local Human Resources or Legal resources, all Intellectual Property conceived or developed while working for the Company. To the extent not otherwise covered by the power of attorney required to be granted to the Company in accordance with Section 10(f) below, if requested, a Covered Person must sign all documents necessary to memorialize the Company’s ownership of Intellectual Property under and in accordance with this Code, including, but not limited to, assignments and patent, copyright and trademark applications. A Covered Person must take any other actions reasonably required by the Company to accomplish the assignment contemplated in this section, and to assist the Company in any registration, perfection, or enforcement of such assigned rights.
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(e)
Prior Inventions. A Covered Person is not conveying any rights to Intellectual Property that the person may have made, conceived, or first reduced to practice before the person’s employment or service with the Company of which the person has provided written notice to the Company.
(f)
Acknowledgments, Powers of Attorney and Waiver of Moral Rights. Upon request, all Covered Persons of the Company are expected to sign an agreement or acknowledgment regarding the intellectual property terms set forth herein, including from time to time as the Company may amend its intellectual property provisions. Upon request, all employees are expected to (i) execute powers of attorney in favor of the Company to have the Company execute on the person’s behalf all applications, specifications, oaths, assignments and all other instruments that the Company shall deem necessary in order to apply for them and obtain such rights and in order to assign and convey to the Company and its successors, assigns and nominees sole and exclusive rights, title and interest in and to such Intellectual Property and/or rights relating thereto; and (ii) waive all applicable moral rights under the United Kingdom Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (and all similar rights in other jurisdictions) that the person has or will have in any existing or future Intellectual Property referred to in this Section 10.
11.
Fair Dealing. The Company seeks to succeed through superior performance, service, diligence, effort and knowledge, and not through any unfair advantage. Each Covered Person should deal fairly and in good faith with the Company’s customers, suppliers, competitors and Covered Persons and not take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts or any other unfair dealing practice.
12.
Protection and Use of Company Property. Each Covered Person is responsible for safeguarding the Company’s assets and properties under their control. All Covered Persons should ensure that the Company’s assets are used for legitimate business purposes. Improper use includes unauthorized personal appropriation or use of the Company’s assets, data or resources, including computer equipment, software and information.
13.
Standards of Business Conduct.
(a)
Respectful Work Environment. The Company is committed to fostering a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and with respect and dignity. Each individual should be permitted to work in a business-like atmosphere that promotes equal employment opportunities.
12
(b)
Prohibited Conduct. The following conduct will not be tolerated and any misconduct, whether or not specifically listed below, could result in disciplinary action (including termination) and civil and/or criminal penalties, subject to applicable laws and regulations:
(i)
Any act which causes doubt about a Covered Person’s integrity, such as the falsifying of Company records and documents, competing in business with the Company, unauthorized use or disclosure of the Company’s Confidential Information, or engaging in any criminal conduct.
(ii)
Any act which may create a dangerous situation, such as carrying weapons, firearms or explosives on Company premises or surrounding areas, assaulting another individual, or disregarding property and safety standards.
(iii)
The use, sale or purchase or attempted use, sale or purchase of alcohol, unless at a Company-sponsored or approved event, or illegal drugs while at work, or reporting to work in a condition not fit for work, such as reporting to work under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.
(iv)
Insubordination, including refusal to perform a job assignment or to follow a reasonable request from a Covered Person’s supervisor or manager, or discourteous conduct toward customers, associates, or supervisors or managers.
(v)
Harassment of any form including threats, intimidation, abusive behavior and/or coercion of any other person in the course of doing business.
(vi)
Falsification or destruction of any timekeeping record, intentionally clocking in on another Covered Person’s attendance or timekeeping record, assisting another Covered Person’s tampering with their attendance record or tampering with one’s own attendance record.
(vii)
Failure to perform work that meets the standards/expectations of the Covered Person’s position.
(viii)
Excessive unauthorized absenteeism, chronic tardiness, or consecutive absence of three or more days without notification or authorization.
(ix)
Any act of dishonesty or falsification of any Company records or documents, including obtaining employment based on false, misleading, or omitted information.
13
(c)
Disciplinary Action. A Covered Person or the Company may terminate the employment or service relationship at will, at any time, without cause or advance notice (except as may be agreed to in writing or required by law). Thus, the Company does not strictly adhere to a progressive disciplinary system in connection with misconduct by a Covered Person given each incident of misconduct may have a different set of circumstances or differ in its severity. The Company will take such disciplinary action as it deems appropriate and commensurate with any misconduct of the Covered Person, including termination of employment.
(d)
Covered Persons are also subject to any standards of business conduct of the particular subsidiary, affiliate or business unit in which they work, which may be different from, and more restrictive than, this Code.
14.
Disclosure in Reports and Documents.
(a)
Filings and Public Materials. Any Covered Person involved in the preparation or review of materials that are filed or disseminated to the public must use caution to ensure that the information in the materials is truthful and accurate in all material respects. It is important that the Company’s filings with Government Agencies are full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable. The Company also makes many filings with Government Agencies on behalf of the funds that its subsidiaries and affiliates manage. Further, the Company prepares mutual fund account statements, client investment performance information, prospectuses and advertising materials that are sent out to its mutual fund shareholders and clients.
(b)
Disclosure and Reporting Policy. Each Covered Person is responsible for ensuring the accuracy and completeness of any business information, reports and records under their control. The Company’s policy is to comply with all disclosure, financial reporting and accounting regulations applicable to the Company. The Company maintains the highest commitment to its disclosure and reporting requirements, and expects all Covered Persons to record information accurately and truthfully in the books and records of the Company.
(c)
Information for Filings. Depending on their position with the Company, a Covered Person may be called upon to provide necessary information to ensure that the Company’s public reports and regulatory filings are full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable. The Company expects all Covered Persons to be diligent in providing accurate information to the inquiries that are made related to the Company’s public disclosure requirements.
(d)
Disclosure Controls and Procedures and Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Covered Persons are required to cooperate and comply with the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting so that the Company’s reports and documents filed with Government Agencies comply in all material respects with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and provide full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure.
14
15.
Accountability for Adherence to this Code.
(a)
Honesty and Integrity. The Company is committed to upholding ethical standards in all of its corporate and business activities. All Covered Persons are expected to perform their work with honesty, truthfulness and integrity and to comply with the general principles set forth in this Code. Covered Persons are also expected to perform their work with honesty and integrity in any areas not specifically addressed by this Code.
(b)
Disciplinary Actions. A violation of this Code may result in appropriate disciplinary action including the possible termination from employment with the Company. Nothing in this Code restricts the Company from taking any disciplinary action on any matters pertaining to the conduct of a Covered Person, whether or not expressly set forth in this Code.
(c)
Annual Certifications. Directors and Executive Officers will be required to certify annually, on a form to be provided by Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group, that they have received, read and understand this Code and have complied with the requirements of this Code.
(d)
Training and Educational Requirements.
(i)
Orientation. New Covered Persons will receive a copy of this Code during the orientation process conducted by representatives of Human Resources or as part of integration activities in connection with Company acquisitions and shall acknowledge that they have received, read and understand this Code and will comply with the requirements of this Code.
(ii)
Continuing Education. Covered Persons shall be required to complete such additional training and continuing education requirements regarding this Code and matters related to this Code as the Company shall from time to time establish.
16.
Reporting Violations of this Code.
(a)
Questions and Concerns. Described in this Code are procedures generally available for addressing ethical issues that may arise. As a general matter, if a Covered Person has any questions or concerns about compliance with this Code, they are encouraged to speak with their supervisor or manager, representatives of Human Resources, Company Ombudsman, their local Legal and Compliance resources, Franklin Templeton’s Legal or Regulatory Compliance groups, or the General Counsel of Franklin.
15
(b)
Compliance and Ethics Hotline. If a Covered Person does not feel comfortable talking to any of the persons or resources listed above for any reason, they may report an issue or instance of misconduct, including anonymously, through the applicable Compliance and Ethics Hotline online or by telephone. Contact information for the Company’s Compliance and Ethics Hotline is located below and on the Intranet website of the Company and/or individual subsidiaries. If a Covered Person does not feel comfortable stating their name, reports to the Company Compliance and Ethics Hotline may be made anonymously.
Covered Persons and applicable third parties may access https://franklintempleton.ethicspoint.com to report an issue or instance of misconduct online or for local dialing instructions to make a report by telephone.
(c)
Responsibility to Report Violations of this Code and Law. As part of its commitment to ethical and lawful conduct, the Company strongly encourages Covered Persons to promptly report any suspected violations of this Code or law. Covered Persons have multiple avenues for reporting such matters, including through the Company Ombudsman, their local Legal and Compliance resources, or to Franklin Templeton’s Legal or Regulatory Compliance groups.
(d)
Confidentiality and Investigation. The Company will treat the information set forth in a report of any suspected violation of this Code or law, including the identity of the caller, in a confidential manner and will conduct a prompt and appropriate evaluation and investigation of any matter reported. Covered Persons are expected to cooperate in any investigations of reported violations.
(e)
Protection of Covered Persons. It is a violation of this Code to retaliate against anyone for reporting to the Company information that such person reasonably and in good faith believes constitutes a violation of this Code or that is otherwise illegal or unethical, or for participating in an investigation of such a report. It is also a violation of this Code to retaliate against anyone who has communicated with any Government Agency in accordance with Section 9€ above. A Covered Person may not be discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment on account of having provided the Company with information about, or otherwise assisted the Company in any investigation regarding, any conduct that the Covered Person reasonably and in good faith believes constitutes a violation of this Code or is otherwise illegal or unethical. Equally, a Covered Person may not be discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment because the Covered Person communicated with a Government Agency in accordance with Section 9(e) above.
(f)
Accounting/Auditing Complaints. The law requires that the Company’s Audit Committee have in place procedures for the receipt, retention and treatment of complaints concerning accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters and procedures for Covered Persons to submit their concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters.
16
Complaints concerning accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters will be directed to the attention of the Audit Committee, or the appropriate members of that committee. For direct access to the Company’s Audit Committee, please address complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters to:
Audit Committee
Franklin Resources, Inc.
One Franklin Parkway
San Mateo, California 94403
Complaints or concerns regarding accounting or auditing matters may also be made to the applicable Compliance and Ethics Hotline, in the manner described in Section 16(b) above.
17.
Waivers of this Code.
(a)
Waivers by Directors and Executive Officers. Any change in or waiver of this Code for Directors or Executive Officers may be made only by the Board or a committee thereof in the manner described in Section 17(d) below, and any such waiver (including any implicit waiver) shall be promptly disclosed to stockholders of Franklin to the extent required by the applicable laws, rules and regulations of any Government Agency.
(b)
Waivers by Other Covered Persons. Any requests for waivers of this Code for Covered Persons other than Directors and Executive Officers may be made to Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group in the manner described in Section 17(e) below.
(c)
Definition of Waiver. For the purposes of this Code, the term “waiver” shall mean a material departure from a provision of this Code. An “implicit waiver” shall mean the failure of the Company to take action within a reasonable period of time regarding a material departure from a provision of this Code that has been made known to an Executive Officer.
(d)
Manner for Requesting Director and Executive Officer Waivers.
(i)
Request and Criteria. If a Director or Executive Officer wishes to request a waiver of this Code, the Director or Executive Officer may submit to Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group a written request for a waiver of this Code only if they can demonstrate that such a waiver:
(A)
is necessary to alleviate undue hardship or in view of unforeseen circumstances or is otherwise appropriate under all the relevant facts and circumstances;
17
(B)
will not be inconsistent with the purposes and objectives of this Code;
(C)
will not adversely affect the interests of clients of the Company or the interests of the Company; and
(D)
will not result in a transaction or conduct that would violate provisions of applicable laws or regulations.
(ii)
Discretionary Waiver and Response. Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group will forward the waiver request to the Board or a committee thereof for consideration. Any decision to grant a waiver from this Code shall be at the sole and absolute discretion of the Board or committee thereof, as appropriate. The Secretary of Franklin will advise Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group in writing of the Board’s decision regarding the waiver, including the grounds for granting or denying the waiver request. Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group shall promptly advise the Director or Executive Officer in writing of the Board’s decision.
(e)
Manner for Requesting Other Covered Person Waivers.
(i)
Request and Criteria. If a Covered Person who is a non-Director and non-Executive Officer wishes to request a waiver of this Code, the Covered Person may submit to Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group a written request for a waiver of this Code only if they can demonstrate that such a waiver would satisfy the same criteria set forth in Section 17(d).
(ii)
Discretionary Waiver and Response. The Head or Co-Head of Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group (or their designee) shall, after appropriate consultation with the applicable business unit head, forward the waiver request to the General Counsel of Franklin for consideration. The decision to grant a waiver request shall be at the sole and absolute discretion of the General Counsel of Franklin. The General Counsel will advise Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group in writing of their decision regarding the waiver, including the grounds for granting or denying the waiver request. Franklin Templeton’s Regulatory Compliance group shall promptly advise the Covered Person in writing of the General Counsel’s decision.
18.
Internal Use. This Code is intended solely for the internal use by the Company and does not constitute an admission, by or on behalf of the Company, as to any fact, circumstance, or legal conclusion.
18
19.
Other Policies and Procedures. The following nonexclusive list of policies and procedures adopted by the Company or entities within the Company provide additional requirements that, depending upon the specific terms of such policies and procedures and the applicable subsidiary, affiliate or business unit involved, may apply to a Covered Person:
●
Franklin Resources, Inc. Anti-Corruption Policy
●
Franklin Resources, Inc. Global Human Rights Policy
●
Franklin Resources, Inc. Trading Blackout Policy
●
Franklin Templeton Corporate Policy on Public and Media Communications
●
Franklin Templeton Employee Service as an Outside Director Policy
●
Franklin Templeton Outside Employment/Business Activities Policy and Procedures
●
Franklin Templeton Personal Investments and Insider Trading Policy
●
Franklin Templeton Policy for Reporting and Investigation of Suspected Dishonest or Fraudulent Conduct
●
Franklin Templeton Social Media Policy
In addition, individual subsidiaries, affiliates and business units within the Company, including SIMs, may have their own applicable policies with which their respective employees are required to comply.
Last approved by the Board on October 21, 2024.
19
Exhibit 31.1
Certification by Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
I, David Mann, certify that:
1.
I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Franklin Ethereum Trust (the “Trust” or “registrant”);
2.
Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.
Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.
The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a)
Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b)
Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c)
Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d)
Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5.
The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s Board of Directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a)
All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b)
Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
|
By
|
/s/ David Mann
| |
|
David Mann*
| ||
|
President and Chief Executive Officer
| ||
|
(serving in the capacity of principal executive officer)
|
Date: June 29, 2026
*
The registrant is a trust and the person is signing in his capacity as an officer of Franklin Holdings, LLC, the Sponsor of the registrant.
Exhibit 31.2
Certification by Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
I, Christopher Kings, certify that:
1.
I have reviewed this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Franklin Ethereum Trust (the “Trust” or “registrant”);
2.
Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.
Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.
The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a)
Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b)
Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c)
Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d)
Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5.
The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s Board of Directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a)
All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b)
Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
|
By
|
/s/ Christopher Kings
| |
|
Christopher Kings*
| ||
|
Chief Financial Officer
| ||
|
(serving in the capacity of principal financial officer)
| ||
Date: June 29, 2026
*
The registrant is a trust and the person is signing in his capacity as an officer of Franklin Holdings, LLC, the Sponsor of the registrant.
Exhibit 32.1
Certification of Principal Executive Officer
Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
In connection with the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2026 (the “Report”) of Franklin Ethereum Trust (the “Trust” or “registrant”) as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof, I, David Mann, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Franklin Holdings, LLC, Sponsor of the Registrant, hereby certify, to the best of my knowledge, that:
(1)
The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and
(2)
The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Registrant.
|
By
|
/s/ David Mann
| |
|
David Mann*
| ||
|
President and Chief Executive Officer
| ||
|
(serving in the capacity of principal executive officer)
|
Date: June 29, 2026
*
The registrant is a trust and the person is signing in his capacity as an officer of Franklin Holdings, LLC, the Sponsor of the registrant.
Exhibit 32.2
Certification of Principal Financial Officer
Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
In connection with the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2026 (the “Report”) of Franklin Ethereum Trust (the “Trust” or “registrant”) as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof, I, Christopher Kings, the Chief Financial Officer of Franklin Holdings, LLC, Sponsor of the Registrant, hereby certify, to the best of my knowledge, that:
(1)
The Report fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and
(2)
The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Registrant.
|
By
|
/s/ Christopher Kings
| |
|
Christopher Kings*
| ||
|
Chief Financial Officer
| ||
|
(serving in the capacity of principal financial officer)
|
Date: June 29, 2026
*
The registrant is a trust and the person is signing in his capacity as an officer of Franklin Holdings, LLC, the Sponsor of the registrant.
Exhibit 97.1
Compensation Recovery Policy
Erroneously Awarded Compensation Recovery Policy
Background
This policy applies to the exchange-traded products (ETPs) sponsored by Franklin Holdings, LLC (Sponsor) that: (1) list and trade their shares on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (Cboe); and (2) are subject to Cboe Rule 14.10(k) (such ETPs collectively referred to herein as the “Applicable Funds”). Pursuant to Rule 14.10(k) (Compensation Recovery Policy), and in accordance with Section 10(D) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “1934 Act”) and Rule 10D-1 thereunder, each Applicable Fund is required to adopt and comply with a written recovery policy in accordance with terms and conditions set forth in Rule 14.10(k). The Applicable Funds sponsored by the Sponsor are not and are not required to be registered as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Sponsor is not and is not required to be a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The Applicable Funds are structured as grantor trusts under the Internal Revenue Code and do not have any officers, including executive officers, or employees. The Applicable Funds are not overseen by a board of directors or trustees. Each Applicable Fund is a series of a Delaware statutory trust (“Trust”). CSC Delaware Trust Company, a subsidiary of Corporation Service Company, serves as the sole Trustee of each Trust (“Delaware Trustee”). Under each Applicable Fund’s/Trust’s Declaration of Trust, the Sponsor has exclusive control of the management of all aspects of the activities of each Applicable Fund and the Delaware Trustee has only nominal duties and liabilities to the Applicable Fund. Executive officers of the Sponsor perform certain functions that would be performed by corresponding officers of the Applicable Fund/Trust if they had such officers. For the avoidance of doubt, no Applicable Trust/Fund currently pays or expects to pay incentive-based compensation and therefore this Recovery Policy (defined below) is not currently applicable to the operations of any of the Applicable Funds. In addition, this Recovery Policy does not apply to any compensation arrangement between any officer (whether or not such person is or is deemed to be an executive officer of a Trust for any regulatory purpose), and any person or entity other than the Trust, including the Sponsor. Certain officers of the Sponsor may from time to time serve in a policy-making function for an Applicable Trust/Fund and therefore may be deemed executive officers of the Applicable Trust/Fund subject to this Recovery Policy to the extent such executive officers were to awarded incentive-based compensation by the Applicable Trust/Fund.
Policy
As stated above, the Applicable Funds/Trusts do not have any officers (including executive officers). Accordingly, the Applicable Funds do not pay any compensation, including any incentive-based compensation, to any individuals or officers covered by Rule 14.10(k).
To the extent applicable, each Applicable Fund is required to adhere to the following policy with respect to any compensation paid by the Applicable Fund to any Executive Officer (as such term is defined in Rule 14.10(k)) of the Fund. This policy is to be interpreted consistent with Section 10(D) of the 1934 Act and Rule 10D-1 thereunder.
1
In accordance with the requirements of Rule 14.10(k):
(1) The ETP will recover reasonably promptly the amount of erroneously awarded Incentive-based Compensation in the event that the ETP is required to prepare an accounting restatement due to the material noncompliance of the ETP with any financial reporting requirement under the securities laws, including any required accounting restatement to correct an error in previously issued financial statements that is material to the previously issued financial statements, or that would result in a material misstatement if the error were corrected in the current period or left uncorrected in the current period, as required by Section 10D under the 1934 Act (the “Recovery Policy”).
(2) This Recovery Policy applies to all Incentive-based Compensation received1 by a person: (a) after beginning service as an Executive Officer2; (b) who served as an Executive Officer at any time during the performance period for that Incentive-based Compensation; (c) while the ETP has a class of securities listed on a national securities exchange or a national securities association; and (d) during the three completed fiscal years immediately preceding the date that the ETP is required to prepare an accounting restatement as described in paragraph (1) above.
(3) In addition to the last three completed fiscal years, the Recovery Policy applies to any transition period (that results from a change in the ETP’s fiscal year) within or immediately following those three completed fiscal years. However, a transition period between the last day of the ETP’s previous fiscal year end and the first day of its new fiscal year that comprises a period of nine to 12 months would be deemed a completed fiscal year.
(4) An ETP’s obligation set forth herein to recover erroneously awarded compensation is not dependent on if or when the restated financial statements are filed.
(5) For purposes of determining the relevant recovery period, the date that the ETP is required to prepare an accounting restatement as described in paragraph (k)(1) of Rule 14.10 is the earlier to occur of: (a) The date the ETP’s board of directors3, a committee of the board of directors, or the officer or officers of the ETP authorized to take such action if board action is not required, concludes, or reasonably should have concluded, that the ETP is required to prepare an accounting restatement as described in paragraph (k)(1) of Rule 14.10; or (b) The date a court, regulator, or other legally authorized body directs the company to prepare an accounting restatement as described in paragraph (k)(1) of Rule 14.10.
(6) The amount of Incentive-based Compensation that must be subject to the ETP’s Recovery Policy (“erroneously awarded compensation”) is the amount of Incentive-based Compensation received that exceeds the amount of Incentive-based Compensation that otherwise would have been received had it been determined based on the restated amounts, and must be computed without regard to any taxes paid. For Incentive-based Compensation based on stock price or total shareholder return, where the amount of erroneously awarded compensation is not subject to mathematical recalculation directly from the information in an accounting restatement: (a) the amount must be based on a reasonable estimate of the effect of the accounting restatement on the stock price or total shareholder return upon which the Incentive-based Compensation was received; and (b) the ETP must maintain documentation of the determination of that reasonable estimate and provide such documentation to Cboe.
2
(7) The ETP must recover erroneously awarded compensation in compliance with its Recovery Policy except to the extent that the conditions of paragraphs (k)(1)(D)(i), (ii), or (iii) of Rule 14.10 are met, and the ETP’s committee of independent directors responsible for executive compensation decisions, or in the absence of such a committee, a majority of the independent directors serving on the board, has made a determination that recovery would be impracticable.
The Rule provides the following examples of where recovery may be impracticable:
1
“Incentive-based Compensation” means any compensation that is granted, earned, or vested based wholly or in part upon the attainment of a financial reporting measure. “Financial reporting measures” are measures that are determined and presented in accordance with the accounting principles used in preparing the company’s financial statements, and any measures that are derived wholly or in part from such measures. Stock price and total shareholder return are also financial reporting measures. A financial reporting measure need not be presented within the financial statements or included in a filing with the SEC. Compensation is deemed “received” in the company’s fiscal period during which the financial reporting measure specified in the Incentive-based Compensation award is attained, even if the payment or grant of the Incentive-based Compensation occurs after the end of that period.
2
Executive Officer means a company’s president, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer (or if there is no such accounting officer, the controller), any vice-president of the company in charge of a principal business unit, division, or function (such as sales, administration, or finance), any other officer who performs a policy-making function, or any other person who performs similar policy-making functions for the company. Executive Officers of the company’s parent(s) or subsidiaries are deemed Executive Officers of the company if they perform such policy making functions for the company. In addition, when the company is a limited partnership, officers or employees of the general partner(s) who perform policy-making functions for the limited partnership are deemed officers of the limited partnership. When the company is a trust, officers, or employees of the trustee(s) who perform policy-making functions for the trust are deemed officers of the trust. Policy-making function is not intended to include policy-making functions that are not significant. Identification of an Executive Officer for purposes of this Rule would include at a minimum executive officers identified pursuant to Item 401(b) of Regulation S-K under the 1934 Act (see 17 CFR 229.401(b)).
3
None of the Applicable Trusts have a Board of Trustees/Directors.
(a) The direct expense paid to a third party to assist in enforcing the policy would exceed the amount to be recovered. Before concluding that it would be impracticable to recover any amount of erroneously awarded compensation based on expense of enforcement, the issuer must make a reasonable attempt to recover such erroneously awarded compensation, document such reasonable attempt(s) to recover, and provide that documentation to the Exchange.
(b) Recovery would violate home country law where that law was adopted prior to November 28, 2022. Before concluding that it would be impracticable to recover any amount of erroneously awarded compensation based on violation of home country law, the issuer must obtain an opinion of home country counsel, acceptable to the Exchange, that recovery would result in such a violation, and must provide such opinion to the Exchange.
3
(c) Recovery would likely cause an otherwise tax-qualified retirement plan, under which benefits are broadly available to employees of the registrant, to fail to meet the requirements of 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(13) or 26 U.S.C. 411(a) and regulations thereunder.
(8) The ETP is prohibited from indemnifying any executive officer or former executive officer against the loss of erroneously awarded compensation.
(9) The ETP must file all disclosures with respect to such Recovery Policy in accordance with the requirements of the Federal securities laws, including the disclosure required by the applicable U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.
Monitoring
No less frequently than annually, the Sponsor or its delegate will cause this policy to be reviewed and affirmations/attestations as required by the Exchange to be timely submitted for each Applicable Fund. As noted above, the Applicable Funds/Trusts do not have officers (including executive officers). Accordingly, the Applicable Funds do not pay any compensation, including any Incentive-based Compensation, to any individuals or officers. The Applicable Trusts also do not have Boards of Trustees/Directors. However, if applicable, any payment or proposed payment of Incentive-based Compensation to an executive officer within the meaning of Rule 14.10(k) by an Applicable Fund will be reviewed for consistency with this policy.
Escalation
Material exceptions to this policy should be reported to the Sponsor’s Governance Oversight Committee.
Last modified as of June, 2024