As the SEC takes a new stance under President Donald Trump, issuers reevaluate staking as a component of Ethereum ETF.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has recognized another attempt to reinstate staking as a feature of spot Ethereum ETF(s) amid a surge of crypto exchange-traded fund filings.
According to a filing made by Cboe BZX Exchange on behalf of 21Shares for the company’s 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF, “the ether staked by the Sponsor on behalf of the Trust will consist exclusively of ether owned by the Trust.”
When issuers applied to list and trade Ethereum funds on U.S. national exchanges last year, there was a lot of discussion about including staking in exchange-traded funds.
US SEC Stance On Staking & Ethereum ETFs
Following the Securities and Exchange Commission‘s opposition to the idea under former chair Gary Gensler, expectations that Ethereum staking would be permitted in exchange-traded funds waned. All potential issuers of spot Ethereum ETFs were advised by agency staff to eliminate any language about staking from their applications.
The directive supported Gensler’s position that staking services must register with the agency to operate lawfully and that proof-of-stake tokens should be categorized as securities.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s strategy changed with Gensler’s exit and President Trump’s return to Washington. Jito Labs and Multicoin Capital recently met with the agency’s Crypto Task Force, which was formed by acting chair Mark Uyeda, to talk about staking in Ethereum ETFs.
It’s still unclear how these conversations will turn out. At least two requests for public comment on whether to allow Ethereum staking in Wall Street ETFs have been acknowledged by the agency, though. A renewed push for staking inclusion in regulated investment products was indicated last week when NYSE Arca proposed authorizing staking in Grayscale’s Ethereum exchange-traded fund suite.
