Fidelity Seeks SEC Approval to Add Staking to Ethereum ETF

Key Takeaways:

• Fidelity has applied to the SEC to enable it to stake an unlimited percentage of its eligible Ether under normal conditions in the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH).
• Staking rewards would be split into 15% staking fees and 85% to the fund.
• FETH intends to pay out cash rewards to net stakers in quarterly amounts, but not guaranteed.

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Fidelity Investments are aiming to introduce Ethereum staking to one of the largest spot Ether funds in the U.S. The proposal would allow FETH holders to achieve another return on investment and heighten the competition among investment products supporting stake on Ethereum.

Fidelity stated in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that, in normal circumstances, Fidelity may hold 100% of its Ether staked in FETH. The fund would still maintain ETH holdings to cover redemptions, expenses and liquidity requirements.

The proposed change would take FETH away from the risks of being exposed to Ether price movements. Rather than keeping all eligible ETH in a staker’s account inactive, Fidelity might convert a large portion of the fund’s assets to the Ethereum proof-of-stake network and earn staking rewards.

Fidelity says stake will be opened as soon as practicable following the prospectus going into effect. The filing is, however, preliminary, with the terms possibly changing before the filing is effective.

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FETH would be left with 85% of the “gross” staking rewards, according to Fidelity’s plan. The remaining 15% would go towards staking fees, such as payments made to the sponsor, custodians, and staking infrastructure providers.

A yield of 85% is not the same as an 85%. It shows the return amount of rewards that the fund would keep after deducting the staking fee. Actual investor returns would relate to the Ethereum staking rewards, the total amount of ETH staked under any of the staking programs and the expenses of the funds.

Fidelity plans to make cash distributions on a quarterly basis. But there is still no assurance of the filing’s payout or yield. Ethereum’s conditions of staking and the costs of the fund could alter the amount of money investors can have.

Fidelity’s launch comes as the crypto ETF sector in the United States continues to evolve, with many issuers seeking to include staking in their ETH offerings.

Grayscale was the first U.S. issuer to allow spot crypto exchange-traded products to be staked in October 2025. In February 2026, BlackRock introduced its own Ethereum Trust ETF, iShares Staked Ethereum. Bitwise had also tried to introduce staking to its Ethereum ETF, but withdrew the plan in September of 2025.

It matters to FETH when. As of Aug. 11, the fund had seen about $2.13 billion in cumulative net inflows since its launch in July 2024, according to Farside Investors.

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