The Securities and Exchange Commission approved amendments allowing spot Ether ETF issuers to stake their underlying ETH holdings, adding a native yield component of approximately 3.8% APY. BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale confirmed they will activate staking within 30 days.
The approval removes the primary competitive disadvantage that spot Ether ETFs faced versus direct ETH ownership. Since launch in 2024, the ETFs have foregone an estimated $2.4 billion in cumulative staking rewards — value that accrued to Ethereum validators rather than ETF shareholders.