Grayscale’s ETF Breakthrough Unlocks Staking Rewards for Mainstream Investors

Grayscale just rewrote the crypto investment playbook. Their latest ETF innovation doesn't just hold digital assets—it puts them to work.

From Passive Holding to Active Earning

Traditional crypto ETFs let you ride the price waves. This one adds a second engine: staking rewards. Now your investment can generate yield while it appreciates—turning dormant holdings into productive assets without the technical headaches.

Cutting Out the Middleman

The structure bypasses the wallet management, validator selection, and slashing risks that scare off institutional money. Grayscale handles the infrastructure; investors pocket the returns. It's crypto's version of a dividend stock—except the yield comes from securing blockchain networks instead of corporate profits.

The Mainstream Gateway

This moves staking from the realm of crypto-natives to retirement accounts and institutional portfolios. Suddenly, earning yield isn't about running nodes at 2 AM—it's about checking your brokerage statement. Wall Street gets to package blockchain's native incentive model into something it understands: fees.

The Fine Print Pays

Of course, Grayscale takes its cut—because what's financial innovation without a new revenue stream? They've essentially monetized the gap between crypto's technical reality and traditional finance's comfort zone. Clever, if not exactly revolutionary for anyone already in the space.

The move pressures competitors to follow suit or watch assets migrate. It also quietly validates proof-of-stake as an investable characteristic—not just tech jargon. The cynical take? Another complex product gets simplified until it's just another line item on a quarterly statement. The optimistic one? Real yield finally enters the traditional investment bloodstream.

In brief

• Grayscale becomes the first crypto ETF manager in the United States to redistribute income from Ethereum staking.
• Investors of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) will receive $0.08 per share, paid in dollars and not in Ether.
• Staking was activated in October 2025, via third-party validators and institutional custodians.
• This announcement could mark the beginning of a new standard in crypto finance, combining on-chain yield and traditional stock products.

An unprecedented distribution for a product listed in the United States

While Tom Lee anticipates Ethereum at $62,000, Grayscale announced on January 5 a first-of-its-kind initiative on the U.S. crypto ETF market: the direct distribution of income generated from Ethereum staking to its shareholders.

In an official statement, the company specified that holders of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) will receive $0.08 per share, following the conversion of staking rewards into dollars. “This is the first staking-related distribution for a spot crypto ETP listed in the United States,” stated Grayscale. This payment, scheduled for the following Tuesday, applies to investors registered at the close of the previous day (Monday).

This distribution follows the activation of staking for Grayscale’s Ethereum products, effective since October 6, 2025. Validation operations are ensured by institutional custodians and third-party validators, guaranteeing a secure infrastructure compliant with market standards.

Unlike traditional ETFs governed by the Investment Company Act of 1940, Grayscale’s funds operate within a distinct legal framework, providing more flexibility to integrate on-chain mechanisms. Here are the key elements to remember from this announcement :

• The product concerned : Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE), listed in the United States ;
• The amount distributed : $0.08 per share, from staking rewards ;
• The method : rewards converted into dollars, not redistributed in Ether ;
• The reference date : distribution based on holdings recorded at Monday’s close ;
• The infrastructure : staking operated via third-party validators and institutional custodians ;
• The legal context : funds outside the scope of the Investment Company Act, allowing staking integration ;
• The immediate impact : +2 % rise in the price of the ETHE ETF.

With this operation, Grayscale positions itself as the first player to remunerate investors based on on-chain staking, but also as an innovation lab at the crossroads of traditional finance and blockchain technologies.

An announcement that could accelerate the race to staking ETFs

Beyond this first operation, Grayscale could well pave the way for a new trend among large asset managers.

Several major competitors are working behind the scenes to also integrate staking mechanisms into their Ethereum products. In March 2025, Cboe BZX submitted a proposal to the SEC to allow the Fidelity Ethereum Fund to participate in staking via third-party providers.

This initiative followed a similar request filed in February for the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF. In November, BlackRock also registered a staked Ethereum ETF in Delaware, a regulatory first step toward a product similar to Grayscale’s, but its iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA), launched in July 2024, does not yet include staking.

The rise of these endeavors illustrates growing interest in products offering added value beyond mere exposure to the price of Ether. In 2025, spot Ethereum ETFs attracted $9.6 billion in inflows and now manage about $18 billion in assets.

Grayscale, with $4.1 billion under management for ETHE and $1.5 billion for its Ethereum Mini Trust, is second only to BlackRock and its ETHA at $11.1 billion. In a context where differentiation margins between ETFs are narrow, the ability to generate yield through staking could become a decisive criterion for both institutional and retail investors.

With this first redistribution of income, Grayscale could redefine the contours of crypto financial products. As Ethereum staking surges, the operation could set a precedent and accelerate the integration of decentralized logics into listed markets.

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