As a response to potential regulatory hurdles associated with staking, BlackRock, Grayscale, Bitwise, and other big-name ETF providers have filed amended 19b-4 forms with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for their proposed spot Ether offerings.
Often associated with Proof-of-Stake tokens, staking involves locking up crypto assets for a period to verify transactions on the blockchain. Similar to how crypto miners earn rewards in Proof-of-Work currencies, staking allows token owners to receive a passive income from their locked assets.
In its amended filings, popular ETF provider BlackRock confirmed that none of the involved parties would engage in staking activities with the Trust’s ETH assets. Fidelity also amended its S-1 forms earlier this week, excluding staking plans. Following suit, VanEck, Franklin Templeton, Invesco Galaxy, and ARK 21Shares made similar amendments.
Following these developments, Hashdex is now the only issuer that hasn't yet filed an amendment to its Ethereum ETF. Meanwhile, Ethereum, unlike other cryptocurrencies has experienced a massive boost in its pricing since the beginning of the week. As of writing, ETH is valued at $3.87K, up by almost 30% over the last seven days.
