Nasdaq submits SEC filing to add staking to BlackRock’s ETHA Ethereum ETF

BlackRock is looking to update its iShares Ethereum Trust (ticker ETHA) to include staking, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The move comes shortly after the agency approved its first-ever staking crypto exchange-traded product, the REX-Osprey Solana Staking ETF, earlier this month.

Thursday’s filing was submitted by the Nasdaq, pursuant to SEC Rule 19b-4, guidance followed by national securities exchanges interested in listing funds. Rival crypto asset managers, including 21 Shares and Grayscale, among others, have also previously submitted proposals to update their Ethereum funds.

The move comes after Ethereum ETFs notched their highest daily net inflow on Wednesday, totaling $726.74 million. The inflows were led by $499 million into BlackRock's ETHA, with eight out of nine ETH funds reporting positive flows for the day, according to SoSoValue data. So far in July, ETH ETFs have attracted total net inflows of $2.27 billion, the highest monthly amount since the funds were launched.

BlackRock’s Ethereum Trust was approved alongside a bevy of other spot ETH ETFs in July 2024, not long after the agency allowed the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products to trade. ETHA is the largest Ethereum ETF by assets under management, with over $7.9 billion in total holdings as of July 17. BlackRock's Head of Digital Assets Robert Mitchnick has previously said he expects the SEC to approve ETH ETF staking as "a next phase."

“‘Staking is not done,’” Bloomberg ETF Analyst James Seyffart said Thursday on X. “There are plenty of ETH staking ETF filings already on the books. Final deadline for earlier filings is in late October. The Blackrock filing today won’t have a final deadline until ~April 2026 (but we think staking will likely be approved by at least 4Q25).”

‘All or a portion’

Nasdaq is proposing to stake “all or a portion” of the trust’s ETH through one or more trusted staking providers. It will “not seek to pool the ether held by the Trust with ether held by other entities” or “bear or subsidize the risk of slashing or forks on behalf of the Trust,” according to the filing. Coinbase acts as both custodian and prime execution agent for BlackRock's product, and appears to be the firm’s choice as a staking partner.

“Allowing the Trust to stake its ether would benefit investors and help the Trust to better track the returns associated with holding ether. This would improve the creation and redemption process for both authorized participants and the Trust, increase efficiency, and ultimately benefit the end investors in the Trust,” Nasdaq Senior Counsel Sun Kim wrote.

Earlier this month, the SEC approved the REX-Osprey Solana Staking ETF as the first staking ETF in the U.S. This fund uses a different, more rigorous regulatory structure under the Securities Exchange Act of 1940 rather than the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which Rule 19b-4 falls under.

No staking fund has been approved under the 1934 rule to date; however, the SEC has signaled interest in approving additional staking products. The agency has said that most crypto staking activities fall outside of securities laws and would not require registration. The agency is also developing guidance to streamline the approval process for crypto ETFs.

Issuers are also looking to list staking funds for alternative assets ranging from Cronos to Tron. Today, Canary Capital filed to issue a staking fund tracking Injective.

ETH has been one of the best-performing assets amid the recent crypto market rally. The token is trading around $3,399 at press time, short of its all-time high of $4,878 set in 2021, according to The Block's data.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.