What is a staking ETF?

A staking ETF is an exchange-traded fund that holds a proof-of-stake cryptocurrency, such as ether or solana, and stakes part of it to earn rewards from the network. You buy and sell shares in a brokerage account like any other ETF, while the fund deals with custodians and validators behind the scenes. As of November 2026, several US funds tied to ether and solana use staking.

What is the staking ETF meaning in simple terms?

On proof-of-stake networks, validators lock up tokens to help confirm transactions and receive new tokens as a reward. Our guide on what Ethereum staking is covers that process. A staking ETF does this at fund level. Instead of you running a validator or using a staking service, the fund sponsor delegates the fund's coins to institutional validators and the rewards flow back to the fund.

Each fund's documents explain what happens to the rewards. For example, BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust, launched in March 2026 under the ticker ETHB, said it intends to distribute rewards monthly and at least quarterly.

How does Ethereum ETF staking work?

On October 6, 2025, Grayscale said its two spot Ethereum funds, ETHE and ETH, had become the first US-listed spot crypto ETPs to enable staking. It described staking passively through institutional custodians and a spread of validator providers while keeping the funds' main goal of tracking ether. Grayscale and Bitwise both note that their funds are not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, so they lack some protections that apply to traditional mutual funds and ETFs. See what an Ethereum, Solana or XRP ETF is for the wider product range.

The eth ETF staking yield an investor sees is not a fixed rate. It depends on network rewards, how much of the fund is staked, and the fees and costs the fund pays, so check each fund's prospectus rather than headline figures.

What is a Solana staking ETF?

A Solana staking ETF does the same with SOL. Bitwise's Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) began trading on the NYSE on October 28, 2025, and Bitwise said it intends to stake all of the fund's SOL through its own validator. Its disclosures list risks including slashing penalties, lost rewards, operational problems and possible delays meeting redemptions, since staked coins can take time to unlock.

What has the SEC said about ETF staking?

In May 2025, the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance said that certain protocol staking, including custodial staking-as-a-service, does not in its view involve the offer of securities. That was a staff statement, not a formal rule. In September 2025, the SEC approved generic listing standards that let exchanges list qualifying commodity-based trust shares, including ones holding digital assets, without a separate rule change for each fund. Read more in what the SEC does in crypto.

This guide explains how staking ETFs work and is not investment advice. Check a fund's prospectus and a qualified professional for your own situation.