Ark Invest and 21 Shares dropped staking plans in their updated spot Ethereum ETF proposal on May 10.The firms’ previous Feb. 7 filing added a clause detailing that the sponsor — 21 Shares — intended to stake a portion of the fund’s assets through third-party providers.21 Shares expected to receive ETH as a staking reward and planned to treat earnings as income generated from the fund. The filing acknowledged risks that could result from staking, including losses from slashing penalties and inaccessible funds during bonding and unbonding.The latest filing removes the relevant section. It maintains broader comments, including potential losses to other validators resulting from staking and the impact of staking on the price of ETH.Bloomberg ETF analyst Erich Balchunas suggested that the change could be an attempt to get application documents “in shape based on SEC comments” but noted that there have been no comments on the application. He suggested the change may serve as a “Hail Mary” or simply provide the SEC with less information to base a rejection upon.The SEC is expected to approve or reject various spot Ethereum proposals within the next two weeks.The regulator must decide on VanEck’s spot Ethereum application from May 23, followed by Ark and 21Shares’s application on May 24. However, the agency is expected to decide on all similar, competing applications simultaneously.Expectations around approval are low. Polymarket odds suggest a 10% chance that spot Ethereum ETFs will gain approval by the end of the month, slightly up from 7% the previous week.Some competing applications include similar proposals around ETH staking. Franklin Templeton and Fidelity added the possibility of staking in their February filings, while Grayscale added the possibility in a March filing.Before transitioning to crypto writing in 2018, Mike studied library and information sciences. Currently, he resides on Canada’s West Coast.AJ, a passionate journalist since Yemen’s 2011 Arab Spring, has honed his skills worldwide for over a decade. Specializing in financial journalism, he now focuses on crypto reporting. Your daily dose of must-have crypto news and deep dives. Direct to your inbox.The S-1 filing follows the SEC’s approval of NYSE Arca’s proposed rule change on behalf of ProShares.All spot ETH ETFs have yet to launch despite recent developments.ICBC compared Bitcoin to gold and said Ethereum has established itself as “digital oil” capable of powering myriad applications across the web3 ecosystem.DeFillama data shows the platform’s TVL rose 135% despite the attack.CryptoSlate’s latest market report dives deep into the effects corporate Bitcoin purchases have on the market.Disclaimer: Our writers’ opinions are solely their own and do not reflect the opinion of CryptoSlate. None of the information you read on CryptoSlate should be taken as investment advice, nor does CryptoSlate endorse any project that may be mentioned or linked to in this article. Buying and trading cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk activity. Please do your own due diligence before taking any action related to content within this article. Finally, CryptoSlate takes no responsibility should you lose money trading cryptocurrencies.
