The US 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 staking rewards.
Grayscale’s Ethereum spot ETF (ETHE) opens up to staking rewards
The wait has been interminable since the historic approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs in early 2024. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) even had time to change direction before other exchange-traded crypto funds were finally made official in the last months of 2025.
This is an unprecedented regulatory opening, but one that grants approvals on a case-by-case basis, unlike the previous SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, who preferred to grant approvals in batches to avoid the risk of favoritism. Suffice it to say that staking associated with Ethereum ETFs appeared to be a complex and decisive step in the field.
That’s why global crypto-asset management giant Grayscale has just announced with great fanfare the official opening of its Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) — renamed Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF for the occasion — to staking rewards.
This is a first of its kind in the United States for an exchange-traded fund of this type, according to its CEO, Peter Mintzberg.
Today, Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (Ticker: https://t.co/Q888888888) officially opens for trading.
Today, 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 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 evidence of our commitment to transforming innovations such as staking into tangible results for investors.
Peter Mintzberg
A “historic moment” for the Ethereum community
This announcement has now 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 fact, this payment represents the sum of $0.083178 per share of this ETF held “made on the payment date of January 6, 2026, based on the holding of ETHE shares on 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 well profoundly redefine the reality of this market.
A staking strategy also promoted by the CEO of the world’s largest Ethereum treasury company, Bitmine, in the midst of a crisis in the Digital Asset Treasuries (DAT) sector, which could well make this company one of the most profitable in the United States.
