Cboe BZX Seeks Approval for Fidelity’s Ether Spot ETF to Engage in Staking

Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Submits Proposal to SEC

The Cboe BZX Exchange, a subsidiary of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), submitted a rule change proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday, allowing Fidelity’s Ethereum spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) to participate in Ethereum staking.

In a 19b-4 filing, Cboe BZX Exchange proposed to “amend the Fidelity Ethereum Fund… to allow for the staking of Ethereum held by the trust.”

After the launch of the Bitcoin spot ETF in January last year, the SEC subsequently approved several Ethereum spot ETFs in July, including BlackRock’s ETHA fund and Grayscale’s ETHE fund, although the proposals at that time did not include staking functionality. If the subsequent staking proposal is approved, Fidelity’s FETH fund would be allowed to stake all or a portion of the Ethereum held by the trust “through one or more trusted staking service providers.” The application documents also stated that any rewards generated from staking would be “considered income.”

Additionally, Grayscale and 21Shares are also seeking to add staking functionality to their Ethereum ETFs (the SEC has accepted 21Shares’ application).