Finance

Why the new spot ether ETFs may ‘be a hit’ despite recent weakness

Published

10 months ago

August 2, 2024

Business Finance News

It’s a historic week for the cryptocurrency markets with spot ether exchange-traded funds making their debut.

Franklin Templeton is one of the nine spot ether ETF applicants which got approval Tuesday from the Securities and Exchange commission.

The firm is behind the Franklin Ethereum ETF (EZET) — now down about 10% since its inception as of Thursday’s close. The losses were sparked by the sell-off in cryptocurrencies.

“We think they’ll be a hit. Whether they’re going to get the same amount of assets is… probably unlikely,” said David Mann, the firm’s head of ETF product and capital markets, told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Tuesday. “But it’s still pretty awesome.”

VanEck, a global investment manager, is behind the VanEck Ethereum ETF (ETHV) which also got approval.

CEO Jan Van Eck expects spot ether ETFs will help investors diversify, but he sees a different energy level for spot ether ETFs.

“I don’t think they’re going to be the same, same kind of hit [as spot bitcoin ETFs]” Van Eck said.

His new fund is also down sharply since Tuesday.

Long-term, Morningstar’s Ben Johnson considers the volumes for spot ether ETFs as normal because they’re roughly proportional to the relative market cap of ether versus bitcoin.

“There’s healthy appetite. There’s healthy volume. There’s healthy demand there,” the research firm’s head of client solutions said. “[The ETFs are] opening up access to new markets, new portions of the investment opportunity set for investors and putting that in a package that is cost effective. It’s convenient, and it’s compatible with the way that more investors are building their portfolios these days.”

Ether dropped sharply on Thursday. As of the market close, it’s down about 11% for the week. However, ether is still up 38% so far this year.

Finance

Stocks making the biggest moves midday: WBD, MODG, SATS, AAPL

Published

2 hours ago

June 9, 2025

Business Finance News

Finance

Walmart taps own fintech firm for credit cards after Capital One exit

Published

2 hours ago

June 9, 2025

Business Finance News

A Capital One Walmart credit card sign is seen at a store in Mountain View, California, United States on Tuesday, November 19, 2019.

Yichuan Cao | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Walmart‘s majority-owned fintech startup OnePay said Monday it was launching a pair of new credit cards for customers of the world’s biggest retailer.

OnePay is partnering with Synchrony, a major behind-the-scenes player in retail cards, which will issue the cards and handle underwriting decisions starting in the fall, the companies said.

OnePay, which was created by Walmart in 2021 with venture firm Ribbit Capital, will handle the customer experience for the card program through its mobile app.

Walmart had leaned on Capital One as the exclusive provider of its credit cards since 2018, but sued the bank in 2023 so that it could exit the relationship years ahead of schedule. At the time, Capital One accused Walmart of seeking to end its partnership so that it could move transactions to OnePay.

The Walmart card program had 10 million customers and roughly $8.5 billion in loans outstanding last year, when the partnership with Capital One ended, according to Fitch Ratings.

For Walmart and its fintech firm, the arrangement shows that, in seeking to quickly scale up in financial services, OnePay is opting to partner with established players rather than going it alone.

In March, OnePay announced that it was tapping Swedish fintech firm Klarna to handle buy now, pay later loans at the retailer, even after testing its own installment loan program.

One-stop shop

In its quest to become a one-stop shop for Americans underserved by traditional banks, OnePay has methodically built out its offerings, which now include debit cards, high-yield savings accounts and a digital wallet with peer-to-peer payments.

OnePay is rolling out two options: a general-purpose credit card that can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted and a store card that will only allow Walmart purchases.

Customers whose credit profiles don’t allow them to qualify for the general-purpose card will be offered the store card, according to a person with knowledge of the program.

OnePay didn’t yet disclose the rewards expected with the cards, though the general-purpose card is expected to provide a stronger value, said this person, who declined to be identified speaking ahead of the product’s release. The Synchrony partnership was reported earlier by Bloomberg.

“Our goal with this credit card program is to deliver an experience for consumers that’s transparent, rewarding, and easy to use,” OnePay CEO Omer Ismail said in the Monday release.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Synchrony to launch a program at Walmart that checks each of those boxes and will help serve millions of people,” Ismail said.