Crypto asset manager Grayscale has introduced staking for its exchange-traded products (ETPs), becoming the first US-based crypto fund issuer to offer staking-based passive income opportunities.
Grayscale said Monday its Ether (ETH) ETFs — the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH) and Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) — are now the first US-listed spot crypto funds to offer staking, calling the development “another first-mover milestone.”
Grayscale’s Solana (SOL) fund, the Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL), has also enabled staking and is awaiting regulatory approval for uplisting to an ETP, which would make it one of the first spot Solana ETPs to enable staking, according to the company’s Monday X post.
By enabling staking across its Ethereum and Solana products, Grayscale said it aims to give investors exposure to the “long-term value accrual of these networks while maintaining the funds’ core objectives.”
“Staking in our spot Ethereum and Solana funds is exactly the kind of first mover innovation Grayscale was built to deliver,” said Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg. “As the #1 digital asset-focused ETF issuer in the world by AUM, we believe our trusted and scaled platform uniquely positions us to turn new opportunities like staking into tangible value potential for investors.”
Both ETHE and ETH are exchange-traded products registered under the Securities Act of 1933, not the Investment Company Act of 1940, the latter being the regulatory framework used for traditional mutual funds.
This makes them structurally different from ETFs governed by the 1940 Act, though they follow the same legal framework used for spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether ETFs approved earlier this year.
“ETHE and ETH hold digital assets; however, an investment in ETHE and ETH is not a direct investment in digital assets,” Grayscale said.
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