The U.S. crypto ETF market could well have a very busy 2026, with the prospect of the SEC (finally) approving many of its pending applications. This momentum has enabled Grayscale’s ETHE fund to become the first Ethereum ETF to pay out staking rewards.
Grayscale’s spot Ethereum ETF (ETHE) begins paying out staking rewards
The wait has been interminable since the historic approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in early 2024. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) even had time to change course before other crypto exchange-traded funds were finally approved in the final months of 2025.
This unprecedented regulatory opening, however, grants approvals on a case-by-case basis—unlike the approach of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who preferred to issue batch approvals to avoid the risk of favoritism. And it goes without saying that staking associated with Ethereum ETFs appeared to be a complex and decisive step in the industry.
That is why the global crypto-asset management giant Grayscale has just announced with great fanfare the official launch of its Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE)—renamed for the occasion the Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF—which includes staking rewards. A first of its kind in the United States for an exchange-traded fund of this type, according to its CEO, Peter Mintzberg.
Today, the Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (Ticker: $ETHE) became the first U.S. Ethereum ETP to distribute staking rewards back to investors.
Note: $ETHE is trading ex-dividend today as of the open.
Read the press release: https://t.co/oDOSk9B2pG
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) January 5, 2026
By becoming the first Ethereum ETP in the United States to pay out staking rewards to investors, we are reinforcing Grayscale’s role as a pioneer in integrating new crypto-asset features into this market. This is further proof of our commitment to turning innovations like staking into tangible results for investors.
Peter Mintzberg
A “historic moment” for the Ethereum community
This announcement has indeed been put into practice, as Grayscale has just made “a distribution to its existing shareholders from the proceeds of the sale of staking rewards generated by the ETHE fund between October 6, 2025, and December 31, 2025.”
In practice, this payment amounts to $0.083178 per share of this ETF held, “made on the payment date of January 6, 2026, based on ETHE share holdings as of the record date of January 5, 2026.”
A “historic moment,” according to Peter Mintzberg, “not only for Grayscale, but also for the entire Ethereum community and for ETPs as a whole,” as this staking option could profoundly reshape the reality of this market.
This staking strategy has also been highlighted by the CEO of Bitmine, the world’s largest Ethereum treasury company, amid a crisis in the Digital Asset Treasuries (DAT) sector—a move that could well make this company one of the most profitable in the United States.
