Sygnum Ethereum fund targets 8%–10% annual returns in ETH

Managed by Sygnum Asset Management, the fund is aimed at qualified and professional investors seeking to increase their ETH holdings without selling their existing exposure. Sygnum estimates conventional Ethereum staking rewards at about 2% to 3% annually. Fund gains and losses are recorded in ETH, so dollar-value performance can differ as the cryptocurrency’s price moves. “Institutions that hold ETH for the long term increasingly think in ETH, not dollars,” said Markus Hämmerli, Sygnum’s head of asset management and the fund’s lead.

The strategy starts with native staking, which helps secure the Ethereum blockchain and generates protocol rewards. It adds options premiums, arbitrage between trading venues and income from derivatives funding rates and other positions. Sygnum describes the trading approaches as market-neutral, meaning their intended returns do not depend primarily on ETH rising. But the fund is still denominated in ETH, and a fall in its dollar price could reduce the value of an investor’s holdings in dollar terms. Derivatives, staking, liquidity, counterparties and trading systems carry risks; leverage in some strategies can magnify losses in volatile markets.

The fund opened on November 2 to eligible investors in approved markets, including Switzerland. Sygnum’s product information sets a minimum investment of $100,000 or its equivalent in ETH. Subscriptions are monthly with two business days’ notice; redemptions require 15 calendar days’ notice and may be subject to an investor-level gate of up to 10%.

Trading collateral is held at Sygnum through its Sygnum Protect off-exchange custody service while investment managers execute strategies on supported venues. The arrangement is intended to limit collateral held directly on exchanges, but does not remove trading or counterparty risk. The launch follows Sygnum’s October 2025 Bitcoin Alpha Fund, which targets annual returns of 8% to 10% in BTC after fees.