What happened?
Grayscale launched the first U.S.-listed spot crypto ETFs that will allow staking for its Ethereum and Solana funds (ETHE, ETH, GSOL), pending final regulatory approval. They plan to stake assets through institutional custodians and a network of validator providers while keeping the funds’ core objective of spot exposure. This comes alongside other Grayscale moves like a new Ethereum covered-call ETF, approval of a multi-crypto fund (GDLC), and filings for additional spot ETFs such as Cardano, Polkadot and Dogecoin.
Who does this affect?
Retail and institutional investors now have a regulated ETF option to get spot ETH and SOL exposure while potentially earning staking rewards inside the fund. Custodians, validator operators, exchanges and competing fund issuers will be directly involved as service providers or challengers to these staking-enabled products. Regulators and the underlying networks are also affected, since large-scale staking by funds can change on-chain dynamics and influence oversight and policy decisions.
Why does this matter?
Staking-enabled spot ETFs could pull significantly more capital into Ethereum and Solana by combining price exposure with yield, which may reduce selling pressure and increase demand for the underlying tokens. With crypto ETFs already seeing record inflows (about $5.95 billion in a recent week) and big price moves for Bitcoin and Ether, these products could accelerate institutional adoption and upward price momentum for ETH and SOL. The approval also signals broader regulatory acceptance of more advanced crypto products, likely driving greater liquidity, competition and innovation across the ETF and crypto markets.