Grayscale removes staking proposal from its spot Ethereum ETF filing

Grayscale Investments dropped its staking proposal in its proposed spot ether exchange-traded fund, according to an amended preliminary proxy statement. 

In a previous filing , Grayscale had proposed to investors the ability to stake ether through the trust. That language was not in an amendment preliminary proxy statement filed on Tuesday for the Grayscale Ethereum ETH +7.03% Trust. 

"The primary purpose of Amendment No. 2 is to remove Proposal 2 from the preliminary proxy statement," Grayscale said in Tuesday's filing. 

Other issuers have also removed staking components from their spot Ethereum ETF applications. Fidelity took out the possibility of staking rewards from its S-1 registration statement earlier on Tuesday. 

James Seyffart, a Bloomberg ETF analyst, said Grayscale's move was expected. 

"Looks like Grayscale is removing their staking language for their filing to convert $ETHE into an ETF. (This is/was expected)," Seyffart said in a post on X. 

Grayscale filed a Form 19b-4 alongside NYSE Arca in October to convert the Grayscale Ethereum trust to a spot ether ETF. Grayscale has also previously filed to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin trust to a spot bitcoin ETF, which it did successfully after a court victory and eventual approval from the SEC in January.