More info on exchange-traded Ethereum vehicle - trades in Europe but available to U.S. investors using Fidelity and possibly other brokers:
You can google Ethereum XBT or COINETH. Details can be found at
http://www.nasdaqomxnordic.com/etp/etn/etninfo?Instrument=SSE144580 (trading in Sweden in krona) and
http://www.nasdaqomxnordic.com/etp/etn/etninfo?Instrument=SSE144581 (trading in Stuttgart in euro)
https://xbtprovider.com/ provides NAVs. The ETNs trade very close to NAV, instead of the substantial premium that GBTC trades at in the U.S. vs. its underlying value in bitcoin. The availability of these to U.S. investors is another reason that GBTC's current 63% premium to NAV might come down.
At Fidelity, taxable accounts can execute online, the Fidelity symbols are ETHEREUM_XBT:SE (trading in Sweden in krona) and ETHEREUM_XBTE:SE (trading in Stuttgart in euro). For an IRA, the trade can only be placed with a human, not online, by calling their international desk at 800-544-2976, so the commission is higher than for online trades in a taxable account.
Can you provide more detail on this? I asked Fidelity multiple times if they offered COINXBT and COINETH as recently as last month and they said that they did not. Also, please note above where I said Interactive Brokers delisted this stock and also forced liquidation on the position today. Who is to say that Fidelity won't do the same thing?
I'm fairly certain that the GBTC premium will remain until another US based alternative emerges for non-accredited investors. I held COINXBT for years and I will have to pay so much in short-term gains taxes as a result of Interactive Broker's honestly shitty handling of this situation that it would have honestly been better if I had just paid the 30% premium to GBTC on a recent large purchase I made early 2017 (hence the short-term gain tax).