BlackRock Doubles Down on Crypto, Introducing Its Staked Ethereum ETF

BlackRock registered a Staked Ethereum ETF with the SEC.
The Trust wants to stake 70%–90% of its assets.
BlackRock will provide third-party stake providers validation privileges.

On Friday, asset manager BlackRock filed an SEC registration statement to create a Staked Ethereum (ETH) ETF.

The company registered the product's name in Delaware last month, a routine step before an SEC filing.

BlackRock will stake via third parties.
The iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHB) will debut on Nasdaq, giving investors exposure to ETH's price and staking returns. BlackRock wants 70% to 90% of the Trust's assets "under normal market circumstances."

The Trust will assign validation rights to staking providers via its custodian, according to the application.

"The Sponsor's choice of third-party Staking Services Providers, and its decision to allocate ether amongst chosen Staking Services Providers, will be based on a range of factors, including but not limited to the performance, reliability, and reputation of the Staking Services Provider, including monitoring their uptime and slashing history," the filing says.

If authorized by the SEC, ETHB will be BlackRock's fourth crypto ETF and second Ethereum product. According to SoSoValue statistics, its spot ETH ETF (ETHA) has the most ETH with net assets of $11.08 billion as of December 5.

Nasdaq added ETHA staking to its SEC 19b-4 in July. With the newest Staked ETH ETF registration, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas observed that BlackRock wants to provide investors options. "Staking yield isn't desirable by some," Balchunas commented on X Monday.

Staking involves pledging bitcoins to assist a blockchain network reach consensus in return for additional or new tokens. The procedure risks withdrawal delays and cuts.

New crypto ETFs for Solana (SOL), XRP, and Dogecoin have been released in recent months. Increased launch follows encouraging crypto regulatory developments under Trump.