Nasdaq has filed an amendment with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to change the listing rules for BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ticker: ETHA) so that the trust is permitted to stake some or all of its Ether holdings and treat the resulting rewards as fund income. The original May 2024 approval to list the trust on Nasdaq expressly prohibited any activity that would cause the trust’s Ether to participate in Ethereum’s proof‑of‑stake validation or generate additional ETH, but the new filing (SR‑NASDAQ‑2025‑053) seeks to remove that restriction and formally align the product with Ethereum’s current proof‑of‑stake design. The SEC published a notice of the proposed rule change under Section 19(b)(1) of the Exchange Act and Rule 19b‑4, opening a public comment period and triggering a 45‑day review window (extendable to 90 days) to decide whether to approve, disapprove, or institute further proceedings on the proposal. Under the amendment, the sponsor, iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC (a BlackRock subsidiary), would be authorized to stake the trust’s Ether either directly or via one or more approved staking providers, with all staking rewards accruing to the trust for the benefit of shareholders, subject to fees. The ether would remain custodied by Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC, with Coinbase, Inc. as prime execution agent and BNY Mellon as cash custodian and administrator, and the sponsor commits not to pool the trust’s Ether with third‑party assets, market separate staking services, or guarantee specific yields. Nasdaq and the sponsor argue that enabling staking would better track the economics of holding ETH on a proof‑of‑stake network, allow investors to capture on‑chain validation rewards as part of the ETF exposure, and contribute to Ethereum network security, while the SEC’s review will focus on investor protection, tax treatment, operational and slashing risks, and consistency with Exchange Act standards. This move places BlackRock alongside other major issuers such as Fidelity, Grayscale, 21Shares, and Franklin Templeton that are seeking regulatory approval for staking‑enabled Ethereum products, and is a key test of how far U.S. regulators are willing to integrate protocol‑level yield into spot crypto exchange‑traded products.

AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

More coverage

Explore the topic

Loading related coverage…

Explore the full feed

Comments

Loading comments…