Fidelity requests Ether ETF with staking

The next financial giant applies for an Ether ETF. Meanwhile, the SEC remains cool, an annoyance for Ethereum fans. What ETH plans does Fidelity have?

Yesterday, March 27, U.S. financial giant Fidelity filed its S-1 application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an Ethereum Spot ETF. The ETF would also allow Fidelity to staker a portion of the Ether it owns.

Fidelity's intention was announced back in November. Now there is official confirmation. Despite uncertainty about SEC approval in the short to medium term, the asset manager is pushing ahead with its plans. Fidelity did not mention a ticker or fee for the proposed product in the new filing. However, some of the digital assets will be deployed, which could increase the product's potential returns.

However, this also has a downside: "As a result of activities with stakes [...] the Trust expects to receive certain awards in the form of Ether, which may be treated as income of the Trust for tax purposes", the application said.

Fidelity is number two behind BlackRock in new Bitcoin ETFs and already holds just under 140,000 BTC, representing a significant 17 percent market share, according to data from Dune. If approved, the Ethereum ETF could be a similar success.

In recent weeks, Ethereum supporters have become somewhat disillusioned. The SEC has become more confrontational again and has yet to send positive signals regarding ETF authorization. Recently, the SEC postponed the approval deadline for other Ethereum ETFs to May 23. There are currently a total of eight applicants for spot ETFs on the second-largest cryptocurrency awaiting a final decision from the SEC.