Grayscale has declared the distribution of staking rewards for its Ethereum Staking Exchange-Trading Fund (ETF), the first time a US-listed crypto product (ETP) has scheduled a payout tied to onchain staking activity.
Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) shareholders will receive approximately $0.08 per share from the proceeds from the sale of staking rewards, with payment scheduled for Tuesday based on holdings at market close on Monday, according to press release published on Monday.
Grayscale activated staking of Ethereum products on October 6, with staking conducted through institutional custodians and third-party validator providers. The move made ETHE and Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH) the first US-listed spot crypto platforms to gain exposure to Ether staking.
Staking is the process of locking cryptocurrency on a proof-of-stake blockchain to facilitate verify transactions and secure the network in exchange for periodic rewards. In the case of Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust ETF, rewards are converted to cash and distributed to investors in dollars, rather than paid out in Ether (ETH).
Grayscale funds operate outside the Investment Company Act of 1940, the primary law governing U.S. ETFs, which allows staking but provides different regulatory protections than time-honored U.S. ETFs.
Founded in 2013, Grayscale Investments is a digital asset management firm that sponsors cryptocurrency investment products, with approximately $31 billion in assets under management, according to the company.
The ETF was up about 2% at the start of the session. commercial– according to Yahoo Finance data.
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US spot ETFs and the push for staking
While Grayscale is currently the only U.S.-listed fund to issue Ether-linked payouts, several spot ETFs from major asset managers are awaiting regulatory approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In March, Cboe BZX submitted a proposed rule change to U.S. regulators seeking approval to add staking to the Fidelity Ethereum Fund. The proposal would allow the fund to invest some or all of its Ether through third-party providers and was made following a similar application made in February for the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF.
In November, BlackRock registered an exchange-traded Ethereum fund in Delaware, an early procedural step toward launching a staking product that would complement its existing spot Ether ETF. Its iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), which launched in July 2024, currently does not involve staking.
U.S. spot Ether ETFs began trading in July 2024, making 2025 the first full calendar year in which they have been available to investors. During the year, $9.6 billion flowed into the funds.
According to CoinMarketCap dataU.S. spot Ether ETFs have approximately $18 billion in total assets under management.
BlackRock’s largest ETF (ETHA) is the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), which has a market capitalization of approximately $11.1 billion. This is followed by Grayscale’s ETHE Fund at approximately $4.1 billion and the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF at approximately $1.5 billion.
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