NYSE: ETHE

As a passive investment vehicle, the Trust’s investment objective is for the value of the Shares (based on Ether per Share) to reflect the value of the Ether held by the Trust, including Ether earned as Staking Consideration, determined by reference to the Index Price, less the Trust’s expenses and other liabilities. Except for any Ether earned as Staking Consideration, the Trust does not seek to generate returns beyond tracking the price of Ether. There can be no assurance that the Trust will be able to achieve its investment objective. The Trust will not utilize leverage, derivatives or any similar arrangements in seeking to meet its investment objective.

Until December 31, 2024, Grayscale Investments, LLC was the sponsor and administrator of the Trust. As a result of the Reorganization (as defined herein) on January 1, 2025, Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC (“GSIS”) and Grayscale Operating, LLC (“GSO”), indirect consolidated subsidiaries of Digital Currency Group, Inc. (“DCG”), became Co-Sponsors of the Trust. On January 3, 2025, GSO voluntarily withdrew as a Sponsor of the Trust, and effective May 3, 2025 GSIS is the sole remaining Sponsor. Prior to May 3, 2025, all references herein to the “Sponsor” shall be deemed to include both GSIS and GSO as Sponsors unless the context otherwise requires, and on or after May 3, 2025, all references herein to the “Sponsor” shall refer only to GSIS. CSC Delaware Trust Company is the trustee of the Trust (the “Trustee”), The Bank of New York Mellon is the transfer agent (in such capacity, the “Transfer Agent”) and the administrator (in such capacity, the “Administrator”) of the Trust, Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company is the co-transfer agent of the Trust (the “Co-Transfer Agent”), Coinbase, Inc. is the prime broker (the “Prime Broker”) of the Trust, Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC is the custodian of the Trust (the “Custodian”), and Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. (the “Additional Custodian”) is an available alternative custodian of the Trust.

The Trust issues Shares only in one or more blocks of 10,000 Shares (a block of 10,000 Shares is called a “Basket”) to certain authorized participants (“Authorized Participants”) from time to time.

The Trust creates Baskets of Shares only upon receipt of Ether and redeems Shares only by distributing Ether or proceeds from the disposition of Ether. At this time, Authorized Participants may only submit orders to create or redeem Shares through transactions that are referred to as “Cash Orders” in this Annual Report. The value of a Basket is based on the amount of Ether represented by the Basket, determined by reference to the Index Price. For a more detailed description of the Index and the Index Price, see “—The Index and the Index Price.” For a more detailed description of the creation and redemption procedures, see “—Description of Creation and Redemption of Shares.”

The Shares are neither interests in nor obligations of the Sponsor or the Trustee. As provided under the Trust Agreement, the Trust’s assets will not be loaned or pledged, or serve as collateral for any loan, margin, rehypothecation, or other similar activity to which the Sponsor, the Trust or any of their respective affiliates are a party.

1

The Sponsor maintains an internet website at etfs.grayscale.com/ethe, through which the registrant’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 Exchange Act, as amended, are made available free of charge after they have been filed or furnished to the SEC. Additional information regarding the Trust may also be found on the SEC’s EDGAR database at www.sec.gov.

The contents of the websites referred to above and any websites referred to herein are not incorporated into this filing or any other reports or documents we file with or furnish to the SEC. Further, our references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.

Investment Objective

The Trust’s investment objective is for the value of the Shares (based on Ether per Share) to reflect the value of Ether held by the Trust, including Ether earned as Staking Consideration, determined by reference to the Index Price, less the Trust’s expenses and other liabilities.

In the event the Shares trade at a substantial premium, investors who purchase Shares on NYSE Arca will pay substantially more for their Shares than investors who purchase Shares directly from Authorized Participants. The value of the Shares may not reflect the value of the Trust’s Ether, less the Trust’s expenses and other liabilities, for a variety of reasons, including any halting of creations or redemptions by the Trust, Ether price volatility, trading volumes on, or closures of, trading platforms where digital assets trade due to fraud, failure, security breaches or otherwise, and the non-concurrent trading hours between NYSE Arca and the global trading platform market for trading Ether. As a result, the Shares may trade at a premium over, or a discount to, the value of the Trust’s Ether, less the Trust’s expenses and other liabilities, and the Trust may be unable to meet its investment objective from time to time.

From July 23, 2024, the Uplisting Date, to December 31, 2025, the maximum premium of the closing price of the Shares listed on NYSE Arca over the value of the Trust’s NAV per Share was 1.64%, the average premium was 0.07%, the maximum discount of the closing price of the Shares listed on NYSE Arca below the value of the Trust’s NAV per Share was 0.64%, and the average discount was 0.08%. As of December 31, 2025, the Trust’s Shares were listed on NYSE Arca at a discount of 0.02% to the Trust’s NAV per Share. See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Secondary Market Trading.”

While an investment in the Shares is not a direct investment in Ether, the Shares are designed to provide investors with a cost-effective and convenient way to gain investment exposure to Ether. A substantial direct investment in Ether may require expensive and sometimes complicated arrangements in connection with the acquisition, security and safekeeping of the Ether and may involve the payment of substantial fees to acquire such Ether from third-party facilitators through cash payments of U.S. dollars. Because the value of the Shares is correlated with the value of the Ether held by the Trust, it is important to understand the investment attributes of, and the market for, Ether.

The Trust’s Ether are carried, for financial statement purposes, at fair value, as required by the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). The Trust determines the fair value of Ether based on the price provided by the Digital Asset Market that the Trust considers its principal market as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, on the valuation date. The net asset value of the Trust determined on a U.S. GAAP basis is referred to in this Annual Report as “Principal Market NAV.” See “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates—Principal Market and Fair Value Determination” for more information on the Trust’s principal market selection.

The Trust uses the Index Price to calculate its “NAV,” a non-GAAP metric, which is the aggregate value, expressed in U.S. dollars, of the Trust’s assets (other than U.S. dollars or other fiat currency), less the U.S. dollar value of the Trust’s expenses and other liabilities, calculated in the manner set forth under “—Valuation of Ether and Determination of NAV.” “NAV per Share” is calculated by dividing NAV by the number of Shares currently outstanding. NAV and NAV per Share are not measures calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP. NAV is not intended to be a substitute for the Trust’s Principal Market NAV calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and NAV per Share is not intended to be a substitute for the Trust’s Principal Market NAV per Share calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Pursuant to the terms of the Trust Agreement, the Trust is required to dissolve under certain circumstances. In addition, the Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, dissolve the Trust for a number of reasons, including if the Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that it is desirable or advisable for any reason to discontinue the affairs of the Trust. For example, if the Sponsor determines that Ether is a security under the federal securities laws, whether that determination is initially made by the Sponsor itself, or because a federal court upholds an allegation that Ether is a security, the Sponsor does not intend to permit the Trust to continue holding Ether in a way that would violate the federal securities laws (and therefore would either dissolve the Trust or potentially seek to operate the Trust in a manner that complies with the federal securities laws, including the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment

2

Company Act”)). See “—Description of the Trust Agreement—Termination of the Trust” for additional discussion of the circumstances under which the Trust could be dissolved. See “