Fidelity Drops Staking Plans in Updated Ether ETF Filing

• Fidelity has amended its S-1 filing with the SEC, indicating that it will not stake ether in its proposed spot exchange-traded fund.

• Staking involves locking cryptocurrencies to support blockchain operations in return for rewards, with annualized yields on ether staking currently around 3%.

An S-1 update filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission early Tuesday showed that Fidelity has rolled back plans to stake ether (ETH) holdings in its proposed spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).

In previous filings, the firm said it intended to “stake a portion of the trust’s assets” to “one or more” infrastructure providers. However, it clearly stated in Tuesday’s update that it would “not stake the ether” stored with the custodian.

Staking is the process of locking certain cryptocurrencies for a set period of time to help support the operation of a blockchain, in turn, for a reward. These rewards are largely considered passive income among crypto traders.

Data from popular staking service Lido shows that annualized yields on ether staking were nearly 3% as of Tuesday.

CoinDesk reported on Monday, that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asked aspiring ether exchange-traded fund exchanges to update 19b-4 filings ahead of a key deadline this week – boosting expectations of an ETH ETF.