Fidelity Updates Its Spot Ethereum ETF Application To Include Staking

Updated: 19 March 2024

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Wall Street giant Fidelity has updated its spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to include staking.

In the updated filing, Fidelity says if the SEC approves the ETF it would occasionally “stake a portion of the fund’s assets through one or more trusted staking providers.”

Fidelity not giving up on #Ethereum ETFs and not giving up on SEC allowing them to Stake within the ETF. Our base case is still that these aren't gonna be approved https://t.co/6ynFvBrvoo pic.twitter.com/yxSLsBbi2C

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) March 18, 2024

The money manager did not mention any staking provider in the filing, but Lido DAO is currently the largest ETH staking provider, with others including RocketPool and StakeWise.

Lido DAO (DAO) jumped after the news, but has since plunged 14% to trade at $2.26 at 05:09 EST.

Analysts See Huge Potential for Ethereum ETFs

Analysts believe that spot Ethereum ETFs have huge potential, and arguably more than Bitcoin ETFs.

The head of crypto research at Standard Chartered Bank, Geoffrey Kendrick, sees inflows of $15-$25 billion into ETH ETFs within the first 12 months after approval.

VanEck portfolio manager Pravan Kanade says an Ethereum ETF makes more sense than Bitcoin ETFs because investors can earn from staking and gas fees distributed to token holders.

Standard Chartered’s Kendrick is also optimistic that the SEC will approve Ethereum ETFs on May 23, but earlier this month US Senators urged the SEC not to launch more crypto ETFs.