Grayscale open ETF staking, the era of staking for US spot crypto ETFs has arrived

SoSoValue analysts stated that on October 6, asset management company Grayscale announced the introduction of a staking mechanism for its Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE), Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH), and the Solana Trust (GSOL), which is in the process of transitioning to an ETF. These products have become the first spot crypto ETFs in the United States to support staking functionality.

This initiative is made possible by the recent introduction of Generic Listing Standards by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the new regulations, spot crypto ETFs that meet the standards no longer need separate SEC approval to conduct staking operations, only requiring shareholder authorization. Meanwhile, a policy proposal that previously sought public comment on staking was withdrawn on September 26 from the SEC's official website.

Grayscale disclosed a differentiated revenue distribution model in its announcement:

• Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE): The issuer, custodian, and staking service provider share 23% of the staking revenue, while investors receive 77%;
• Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH): The share for the issuer, custodian, and staking service provider is reduced to 6%, allowing investors to receive 94% of the revenue.

This institutional breakthrough is favorable for Ethereum. The addition of staking functionality will bring the ETF's returns closer to the yields from directly holding and staking the tokens, which is expected to significantly enhance institutional investment willingness. At the same time, other ETF issuers are expected to quickly follow suit, triggering a price war among ETF issuers over staking yields, thus benefiting ETF investors.

Meanwhile, Solana is also expected to be a beneficiary. As the next asset likely to synchronize staking functionality at the time of its initial issuance, the attractiveness of the Solana ETF may significantly increase.

The industry generally believes that with the implementation of the generic standards, all crypto spot ETFs listed under this mechanism will introduce staking functionality in the future. This development not only expands the product forms and functional boundaries of crypto ETFs but is also seen as an important step for crypto assets to accelerate their entry into mainstream capital markets.