BlackRock registered in Delaware the vehicle “iShares Staked Ethereum Trust”, the first formal move toward an ETF that would integrate Ether staking rewards. The product aims to add a 3.95% annual yield according to the filing to the classic exposure to ETH, shifting the asset’s profile from pure price appreciation to a total return proposition.
By signaling its intent to package staking income within an ETF, BlackRock frames a structure that combines Ether price exposure with on-chain validator rewards. This initial step precedes a formal application to regulators and sets the stage for decisions on operational and custody design.
The Delaware registration is the pre-filing phase before a formal application to regulators and indicates the objective of integrating staking rewards into an ETF wrapper. The documentation cites an annual yield of 3.95%, with the fund designed to combine exposure to the Ether price with a portion of rewards generated by validators participating in the network.
The filing also notes that BlackRock controls more than 2 million ETH, and that the firm already has experience in institutional crypto products. Its Ethereum ETF (ETHA), launched in July 2024, attracted $13.09B in cumulative flows and manages $11.47B in net assets, while its BTC ETF (IBIT) shows $63.12B in cumulative flows and $72.76B in assets under management.
BlackRock is exploring a potential Bitcoin Yield ETF and maintains active dialogue with regulators about operational and legal distinctions between futures and spot ETFs, situating the Staked Ether initiative within a broader product roadmap.
Regulation, competition and operational impact
The filing arrives in an evolving regulatory context. The US regulatory authority issued guidance on staking around May 2025 and approved generic listing standards for crypto ETFs in September 2025, developments that reduce ambiguities but do not remove the strict review and typical delays in final decisions. That ambivalence has led to eliminations or prior modifications of staking functions in other products.
The race for staking products is active across multiple managers: VanEck registered a Lido Staked Ethereum ETF in October 2025 and a product tied to JitoSOL in August 2025; Canary Capital filed applications for Tron and Injective ETFs in May and July 2025 respectively; REX‑Osprey launched ESK, an ETF combining spot and staking, on September 25, 2025; and Grayscale integrated staking functions in October 2025. This competitive move suggests a market demanding not only price access but participation in on-chain infrastructure yields.
From a product and compliance perspective, an ETF with staking poses challenges around segregated custody, validator selection and oversight, staking/unstaking latency, and KYC/AML controls. Decisions about how to structure custody and who assumes the staking counterparty will determine costs, counterparty risk and traceability of yield.
The registration of the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust is an administrative step with strategic implications, formalizing the intent to transfer on-chain yields into regulated vehicles.
