BlackRock has revised its filing for the iShares Ethereum Trust, lowering the proposed staking fee from 18% of staking rewards to 10%. The change appeared in an amended S-1 registration statement submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said the earlier version of the filing showed an 18% charge on rewards.
Fee applies to staking rewards, not total fund assets
The updated filing says the new charge would apply to income generated from staking the fund’s ETH holdings, with a base rate set at 10% of staking rewards. Earlier documents described a fee equal to 18% of gross staking income. That revision lowers the projected cost structure tied to the product’s staking activity.
Seyffart also said on X that the fund could introduce tiered fee discounts. The filing, though, does not list the asset thresholds that would trigger those lower rates. BlackRock submitted the change through a revised S-1, one of the core documents used in the ETF approval process.
ETHB aims to generate yield through Ethereum staking
The proposed structure differs from spot funds that simply hold crypto assets. Under the filing, the trust would stake its ETH on the Ethereum network through a custodian. Staking allows token holders to participate in securing the blockchain and validating transactions, and in return they receive newly issued ETH rewards.
That matters for fund economics. The 10% fee is tied only to staking rewards, not to the trust’s full net asset value. In practice, part of the ETF’s revenue profile would depend on staking yield generated on the network rather than on asset size alone.
Staking ETF issuers still await S-1 effectiveness
The update comes after the SEC approved several spot Ethereum ETF 19b-4 proposals in May 2024. Even so, issuers still need their S-1 filings to become effective before the products can begin trading on public exchanges. Changes to fee disclosures and operating details remain part of that last review stage.
BlackRock is not the only firm pursuing an Ethereum staking ETF. The source names Fidelity Investments, Grayscale Investments, and Franklin Templeton as other asset managers seeking similar products. Earlier Franklin Templeton filings referenced staking fees of as much as 15%, while BlackRock’s amended structure now shows a 10% base rate on rewards.