ETH vs VTI: Performance, Holdings, Fees & Risk

ETH and VTI are ETFs, but they can differ materially in exposure, yield, fees and risk. ETH is Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF, while VTI is Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF. VTI has the lower expense ratio. Current AlgovestIQ evidence has VTI ahead on AIQ Score, 60 versus 39.

Market data as of Oct 21, 2026 market close· Fund characteristics as of Oct 21, 2026
ETH
Grayscale
vs
VTI
Vanguard
ETH
Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF
Issuer
Grayscale
Inception
2024-07-23
VTI
Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF
Issuer
Vanguard
Inception
2001-05-24
Expense ratio
ETH
0.15%
VTI
0.03%
Lower annual fund costVTI
Holdings
ETH
1
VTI
3,524
Broader reported basketVTI
1Y return
ETH
-36.2%
VTI
+15.8%
Trailing performanceVTI
Annualized volatility
ETH
62.4%
VTI
13%
Lower realized volatilityVTI
MetricETHVTI
Fund
Expense ratio0.15%0.03%
Holdings13,524
Distribution yieldTrailing 12 months0.33%1.05%
Average volume2,702,0683,115,564
Performance
1Y return-36.2%+15.8%
YTD return-17.2%+12.5%
Risk
Annualized volatility62.4%13%
Max drawdown (1Y)-61.1%-9.2%
Beta2.441.02
Sharpe ratio-0.460.86
Sortino ratio-0.691.32
AlgovestIQ
AIQ Score39/10060/100
AIQ Edge Score2/108/10
Momentum31/10051/100
Risk Resilience47/10086/100

AlgovestIQ AIQ Comparison

Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF vs Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF

Data as of Oct 21, 2026· market close· Coverage 60/66 fields· High confidence
AIQ VerdictCompetitiveAIQ Comparison Conviction 8/10

VTI leads

VTI leads by 21 AIQ points, primarily on Risk Resilience and Momentum, and the lead has widened from 11 points over 30 sessions.

Competitive: 3 of 4 evidence groups support VTI, its lead is widening, and its current signal state is conflicted.

Evidence agreement: 3 of 4Comparison trend: Strengthening
ETH

Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF

AIQ Score
39/100
AIQ Edge Score
2/10
VTI

Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF

Leads
AIQ Score
60/100
AIQ Edge Score
8/10

The Algovestiq AIQ Score currently favors VTI over ETH, 60 versus 39 as of Oct 21, 2026. VTI's advantage is driven primarily by stronger risk resilience and momentum. VTI also shows the weaker technical structure relative to its 50-day moving average. 3 of 4 covered evidence groups favor VTI today, and the comparison is rated Competitive on stability: the leader is throwing conflicting signals. VTI lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 11 to 21 points over 30 sessions. VTI leads on all four AIQ factor dimensions. Value is itself one of those four, so a sweep is not explained by valuation alone — it deserves additional scrutiny for unmodeled catalysts, expectations or event risk.

Compare Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF and Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF across performance, expense ratio, dividend yield, drawdown, volatility and the Algovestiq AIQ Score.

ETH vs VTI: which fits what

Each row is settled by a single measure. Where the gap is too small to matter it reads Similar, and no row decides the comparison as a whole.

If you wantETHVTIFits
Lower costExpense ratio0.15%0.03%VTI
Higher incomeTrailing 12-month distribution yield0.33%1.05%VTI
Smaller drawdownsMax drawdown, 1 year-61.1%-9.2%VTI
Lower volatilityAnnualized volatility, 1 year62.4%13%VTI

Similar means the gap is within 0.01 percentage points of expense ratio, 25% more holdings, 3 points of top-10 weight, 0.2 points of yield, 2 points of drawdown or 1 point of volatility. Past drawdowns and volatility describe the funds’ history, not their future.

Currently unavailable

Performance over time

Total return with distributions reinvested, from daily closes for both ETFs.

ETH
-28.7%
VTI
+41.5%

Total return comparison

Growth of $10,000, distributions reinvested

ETH $7,126 · VTI $14,155

Split-adjusted closes; each distribution is reinvested at the close on its ex-dividend date. Taxes and trading costs are not modeled.

Compare ETH and VTI against another ticker

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AIQ Factor Divergence

Where the two separate, on the four dimensions behind the AIQ Score. Bars read outward from a shared zero: further from the centre is a wider gap.

ETH advantage
0
VTI advantage
  • Risk Resilience47 vs 86
    VTI +39
  • Momentum31 vs 51
    VTI +20
  • Value23 vs 42
    VTI +19
  • Quality58 vs 74
    VTI +16

3 of 4 evidence groups favor VTI. VTI’s edge is concentrated in risk resilience and momentum.

What changed since the last close

Latest scored session 2026-10-20, compared against the prior scored session 2026-10-19.

ETH0 AIQ

Largest factor move: Momentum +1, not enough on its own to move the overall score.

No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 3 active signals are unchanged.

VTI+1 AIQ

Largest factor move: Momentum +4

No signal started or stopped since the prior session; its 5 active signals are unchanged.

VTI's lead widened by 1 AIQ point in the latest session.

Deeper signal detail for each name lives on its own signals page — ETH and VTI both carry a full feed there.

The central trade-off

VTI (Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF): the stronger current systematic profile, led by risk resilience and momentum.

ETH (Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF): the counter-case, on technicals — but at materially higher volatility, 29.6% against 9.8%.

Fund facts, side by side

Two funds tracking overlapping universes are separated by cost and risk far more than by holdings. Those lead here.

MeasureETHVTIWhy it matters
Expense ratio0.15%0.03%Lower is better — it compounds against you every year you hold.
Holdings13,524More holdings means broader diversification, not better returns.
Average volume2,702,0683,115,564Liquidity — matters most if you trade size.
Annualized volatility62.4%13%Lower is a steadier ride for the same exposure.
Max drawdown (1Y)-61.1%-9.2%The worst peak-to-trough loss over the past year.
Sharpe ratio-0.460.86Return per unit of risk. Higher is better.
Beta2.441.02Sensitivity to the broad market. Neither direction is better — it depends on the role in your portfolio.

ETH vs VTI: five-year payout growth

VTI grew its split-adjusted payout at 6.28% a year over 2020-2025. ETH has no 2020-2025 growth rate to compare.

Dividend metricETHVTI
2020 annual payout$0.630$2.770
Peer ranknot ranked#81 of 138

Split-adjusted annual distributions, 2020–2025. Research as of Sep 19, 2026. Yield and expense ratio above are current values, not part of this window.

AIQ Agreement Matrix

3 of 4 covered evidence groups favor VTI. A wide gap backed by one group is a weaker case than a narrow gap backed by five.

Evidence groupFavorsReading
AIQ ScoreVTI39 vs 60
FundamentalsNot coveredNot covered
ValuationVTIValue 23 vs 42
TechnicalsETHPrice vs 50-day 2% vs 0.2%; vs 200-day 10% vs 5.3%
Risk ResilienceVTIRisk Resilience 47 vs 86
Analyst expectationsNot coveredNot covered

✓ agrees with the overall verdict · ✕ points the other way. Groups marked “not covered” lack data on one or both of ETH and VTI and are excluded from the count.

AIQ Decision Stability

Competitive

The two are close enough that your objective, not the score, should decide.

  • The AIQ gap is wide at 21 points. (supports the conclusion holding)
  • The leader's advantage has been widening. (supports the conclusion holding)
  • The leader is throwing conflicting signals. (argues the conclusion is provisional)

Stability combines the score gap, how broadly the evidence agrees, how steady the lead has been across daily snapshots, the current signal state on both names, and analyst dispersion on VTI.

How the comparison changed

120 daily snapshots · Jun 21 – Oct 20

VTI lead: Strengthening — the AIQ differential moved from 11 to 21 points over 30 sessions.

Jun 21ETH leads above the line · VTI leads belowOct 20
Today
VTI +21
39 vs 60
7 sessions ago
VTI +18
41 vs 59
30 sessions ago
VTI +11
49 vs 60
90 sessions ago
VTI +21
45 vs 66

The lead has not changed hands in this window.

AIQ Signal Divergence

Only the signals that bear on the head-to-head. A conflicted name is carrying bullish and bearish rules at the same time — the technical evidence is not pointing one way.

ETHConflicted

1 bullish / 1 bearish / 1 neutral, conflicted

Only ETH

  • Bollinger Band Squeeze — neutral, volatility, short horizon
VTIConflicted

2 bullish / 1 bearish / 2 neutral, conflicted

Only VTI

  • ATR Contraction - Coiling — neutral, volatility, short horizon (0.96%)
  • EMA Ribbon Compression — neutral, trend, medium horizon
  • 52-Week High Proximity — bullish, risk, long horizon (1.7%)

Both carry 2 more signals that do not separate them: Golden Cross Active, MACD Bearish Crossover.

VTI leads the comparison while carrying a conflicted signal state, which is one reason the stability rating is not higher.

Price vs model alignment

Whether the latest session's price move confirms what the model did over the same session, or contradicts it.

ETHNo material change

Neither the price nor the AIQ Score moved enough in the latest session to confirm or contradict the other (price +2.45%, AIQ 0 points).

VTIConfirmed strength

Price and the AIQ Score both moved up over the latest session (price +0.55%, AIQ +1 points).

What would flip this result

A state, not a forecast. These are the specific, observable changes that would reverse the verdict — not a price prediction.

  1. 1ETH closes the Risk Resilience gap — currently 39 points behind, the largest single contributor to VTI's edge.
  2. 2ETH's MACD Bearish Crossover resolves — a bearish momentum rule currently active against it.
  3. 3VTI's conflicting signal state resolves bearish — it currently carries 2 bullish and 1 bearish rules at once.
  4. 4A regime shift changes factor weighting — Quality and Value carry the heaviest weights in the composite, so a rotation toward either would move the result most.

The full evidence

Every number behind the verdict. The leader is called above each group so you are not left to solve it from the table.

Fundamentals

Split
MetricETHVTI
Revenue growth (YoY)8%—
EPS growth (YoY)100%—
Gross margin61.2%—
Operating margin7.8%—
Return on equity (TTM)8.4%—
Debt to equity0.26—

Performance

VTI leads 5 of 6 windows
MetricETHVTI
1 week (5 sessions)-2.8%-1.1%
1 month (20 sessions)-11.6%-1.1%
3 months (63 sessions)26.7%2.2%
6 months (126 sessions)6.5%8.4%
Year to date-17.2%12.5%
1 year (252 sessions)-36.2%15.8%

Technicals

ETH has the stronger structure
MetricETHVTI
RSI (14)30.955.2
ADX (14)26.813.4
Price vs 50-day2%0.2%
Price vs 200-day10%5.3%
Volatility (1M, annualized)29.6%9.8%

Risk

VTI is the more resilient
MetricETHVTI
Beta2.441.02
Sharpe ratio-0.460.86
Sortino ratio-0.691.32
Max drawdown-61.1%-9.2%
Current drawdown-39%-1.9%
Annualized volatility62.4%13%
Value at risk (95%)-5.7%-1.4%

Straight answers

Short answers to the questions fund investors ask about this pair, from the figures above.

Which has the lower expense ratio?

VTI has the lower expense ratio, 0.03% a year against 0.15% for ETH.

Which ETF has the higher distribution yield?

VTI, with a trailing 12-month distribution yield of 1.05% against 0.33% for ETH.

Which ETF has been more volatile?

ETH has been more volatile over the past year, at 62.4% annualized against 13% for VTI.

Which ETF has had the smaller drawdown?

VTI fell less from peak to trough over the past year: -9.2% against -61.1% for ETH.

Compare ETH and VTI with others

Continue your research

This page answers which of the two. These answer the questions on either side of it.

How this comparison is scored

The Algovestiq AIQ Score composites four factors — Quality, Value, Momentum and Risk, each carrying a fixed weight. Sentiment is reported separately as SentimentPulse and is not folded into the composite. Scores refresh every trading day, and this page regenerates from the latest snapshot rather than being written once.

The verdict names a leader, states how broadly six independent evidence groups agree, and rates how durable that conclusion is given the score gap, its recent trajectory and the current signal state on both names.

How to use side-by-side comparison →

This comparison is informational and educational, not investment advice. AIQ scores update daily; re-check after earnings, guidance or macro data that materially changes either name’s factor profile.