Cboe Moves to Reinstate Ether Staking in ETFs With New SEC Filings

Cboe has filed amended 19b-4 documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), aiming to reintroduce staking for spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The filing has sparked renewed market optimism, with ETH climbing 2% in the past 24 hours.

Prior to their approval in July, issuers had proposed staking rewards for spot Ether ETFs. However, the SEC forced issuers to strip the feature before greenlighting the products. Now, with regulatory leadership changes, Cboe is seeking approval for Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) and Franklin Ethereum ETF (EZET) to include staking mechanisms.

The move follows the resignation of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler ahead of President Trump’s inauguration. His replacement, Paul Atkins, is awaiting Senate confirmation, while acting Chair Mark Uyeda has already signaled a more crypto-friendly approach.

ETF analyst James Seyffart of Bloomberg Intelligence believes staking approvals are likely: “The regulatory landscape is shifting, and we expect the SEC to allow staking in ETFs before year-end.”

Beyond Ethereum, ETF issuers are broadening their horizons. Recent weeks have seen filings for Sui (SUI) and Aptos (APT) ETFs, while the SEC continues to assess applications for Solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) ETFs.