Ethereum
Ark Invest and 21Shares abandon their participation in the Ethereum ETF spot proposal
Ark Invest And 21 stocks abandoned staking plans in their updated Spot Ethereum ETF proposal on May 10.
The company’s previous filing on February 7 added a clause specifying that the sponsor – 21 shares – intended to stake a portion of the fund’s assets through third-party providers.
21 stocks should receive ETH as a staking reward and should treat profits as income generated by the fund. The filing recognized the risks that could result from staking, including losses due to reduced penalties and inaccessible funds during bonding and posting.
The last filing deletes the relevant section. It maintains broader commentary, including potential losses to other validators from staking and the impact of staking on the price of ETH.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Erich Balchunas suggested the change could be an attempt to bring the application materials “into shape based on SEC comments,” but noted that there had been no comment on the application. He suggested the change could serve as a “Hail Mary” or simply provide the SEC with less information on which to base a rejection.
SEC decision looms
The SEC is expected to approve or reject various Ethereum spot proposals over the next two weeks.
The regulator must decide VanEck spot the Ethereum app starting May 23, followed by the Ark and 21Shares app on May 24. However, the agency is expected to rule on all similar and competing applications simultaneously.
Expectations for approval are low. Polymarket odds suggest there is a 10% chance that Ethereum spot ETFs will be approved by the end of the month, a slight increase from 7% the previous week.
Some competing applications include similar proposals around ETH staking. Franklin Templeton And loyalty added the ability to stake in their February filings, while Grayscale added the ability in a March filing.
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Author 
Mike Dalton
Journalist at CryptoSlate
Before switching to cryptography writing in 2018, Mike studied library and information science. He currently resides on the west coast of Canada.
Editor Editor 
Assad Jafri
Editor and journalist at CryptoSlate
AJ, a passionate journalist since the 2011 Arab Spring in Yemen, has honed his skills around the world for over a decade. Specializing in financial journalism, he now focuses on crypto reporting.