TL;DR
- Grayscale amended the agreement of its Ethereum ETF to make staking the default option for nearly all of its funds.
- The new contract requires that rewards be converted to cash and distributed to shareholders at least quarterly, though monthly payments are in the plans.
- Some 161,000 ETH remain idle as an operational reserve, while the fund has already accumulated $27.3 million in net rewards since October 2025.
Grayscale reformulated the trust agreement of its Ethereum Staking Mini ETF (ticker: ETH), according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The change makes staking the default option for virtually all assets managed by the fund, and was announced four days before the expiration of a key deadline set by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The IRS published rules in November 2025 allowing crypto funds to conduct staking without generating tax obligations at the fund level. The central condition is that rewards must be passed on to shareholders at least quarterly. Grayscale’s new agreement goes further: rewards will be converted to cash and payments are planned on a monthly basis.
Staking as the Backbone of Grayscale’s ETF
Grayscale already has experience in this area. In October 2025, it became the first U.S. issuer to activate staking within its spot crypto funds. Since then, the Mini ETF has accumulated $27.3 million in net rewards, with an annualized return rate of 2.61% after fees.
As of August 6, Grayscale had staked 80.8% of its 839,556 ETH. The remaining 161,000 ETH remain idle as a reserve for redemptions, fees, and daily operations. The new agreement establishes that the trust must execute staking on “all of the fund’s ETH at all times,” with limited exceptions to cover those operational needs.
Competitive Pressure Shows No Signs of Easing
The competitive landscape is highly demanding. Morgan Stanley launched Ethereum and Solana funds with a fee of just 0.14%, below the 0.15% charged by Grayscale. Institutions such as Intesa Sanpaolo rotated toward Ethereum products with staking throughout 2026. The price of Ethereum is currently around $1,915, recording a 0.4% gain over the past 24 hours.
If the proportion of staked ETH scales from the current 80.8% toward the operational maximum, distributable rewards should grow accordingly. Upcoming periodic disclosures will reveal the pace of that process.
