Ether Surges on ETF Staking News

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surged by 3.5% on Monday, February 14, following news that the CBOE BZX Exchange had filed on behalf of asset manager 21Shares to introduce staking to its spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF). The price of Ether reached $2,776 before retracing to $2,729 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.

21Shares, a Switzerland-based asset manager, aims to be the first to offer Ether staking in a spot Ether ETF product if approved. The company plans to stake a portion of the Trust's Ether "from time to time" through trusted staking providers, as outlined in a February 12 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The filing stated that allowing the Trust to stake its Ether would benefit investors and help the Trust better track the returns associated with holding Ether. 21Shares will maintain sufficient liquidity in the trust to satisfy redemptions and will not advertise itself as offering staking services or promise any specific returns. The company also claimed no particular expertise, experience, or technical know-how in relation to staking, stating that it is staking the Trust's Ether solely to maximize revenue generation opportunities.

The news has been well-received by crypto analysts, who believe that approval could make the product far more appealing to institutions. Popular crypto trader Ash Crypto tweeted on February 12 that "this is massive for Ethereum." There is broad consensus among analysts that Ether ETFs aren't as popular as Bitcoin ETFs partly because Wall Street traders are struggling to define ETH's unique value proposition. The news comes only weeks after Ethereum and ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin stated that he has been "in discussions with the ETF providers, and they’re already working hard" on getting staking approved for spot Ether ETFs.