BlackRock, Grayscale, Bitwise Latest to Drop Staking From ETH ETF Filings Before SEC Decision

Three more US asset managers have amended their Ethereum ETF filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to remove staking from their applications.

BlackRock, Grayscale, and Bitwise have all amended their 19b-4 filings with the regulator ahead of its highly anticipated approval decision.

“Neither the Trust, nor the Sponsor, nor the Ether Custodian [...] nor any other person associated with the Trust will, directly or indirectly, engage in action where any portion of the Trust’s ETH becomes subject to the Ethereum proof-of-stake validation or is used to earn additional ETH or generate income or other earnings,” said the amended BlackRock filing.

Earlier this month, ARK Invest and 21Shares' proposed Ethereum ETF also axed staking from their application.

In its initial filing, ArkInvest/21 Shares had featured a staking component in its application, stating that the "sponsor may, from time to time, stake a portion of the Trust’s assets through one or more trusted Staking Providers." The phrase is not found in the latest filing.

Fidelity, VanEck, Franklin Templeton, and Galaxy and Invesco also made similar adjustments to remove staking from their applications a few days ago.

The market is expecting the SEC to make a decision on approving ETH ETFs by 23 May, which marks the final deadline for VanEck's application.

Meanwhile, Uniswap Labs has responded to the Wells Notice issued by the SEC earlier this month. In a blog post, Uniswap said the SEC's legal arguments are "weak" and have been "refuted" by courts.

"The SEC’s aggressive theories are an effort to expand its jurisdiction beyond exchanges to communications technology – and beyond securities to all markets," Uniswap stated.