Original Author: KarenZ, Foresight News

On March 12, 2026, NASDAQ listed a distinct cryptocurrency ETF: the Ethereum Trust ETF "ETHB" with a staking interest function.

This is the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF launched by BlackRock, and it is the third cryptocurrency ETF from this largest global asset management firm.

On its first day, ETHB recorded a trading volume of approximately $15.5 million at the close, and on the second day (March 13), it recorded approximately $76 million in trading volume. In terms of scale, ETHB started with about $100 million and is currently around $170 million.

It is worth mentioning that many reports labeled BlackRock's ETHB as "the first Ethereum staking ETF in the United States." However, the interesting part of the story is that this is not the first Ethereum staking ETF in the U.S., but it is indeed the most significant one.

First, let's clarify: What exactly is ETHB?

To understand ETHB, one must first understand the "staking" mechanism of Ethereum. After Ethereum completed its "merge" in 2022, it transitioned to a Proof-of-Stake mechanism to maintain network security.

In simple terms: by locking ETH into the network to help validate transactions, the system rewards you, akin to deposit interest—only the interest rate is determined dynamically by the network.

According to the Ethereum Validator Queue data, the current annualized rate is 2.78%. This number may not seem prominent, but for those who plan to hold ETH long-term, it represents a tangible additional income. For institutional investors, this income should not be underestimated—missing out on staking rewards for an Ethereum exposure worth hundreds of millions signifies a real monetary opportunity cost.

What ETHB does is: it formalizes and commercializes this process, allowing ordinary investors to gain exposure to ETH prices while enjoying this "interest" through a regular securities account, without needing to study how to stake or how to select validation nodes.

What is the fee structure of ETHB?

Breaking down the cost layers of ETHB, the first layer is a surface management fee of 0.25% annually, with a promotional period (the first 12 months or the first $2.5 billion) offering a discount of 0.12%. This is consistent with ETHA's 0.25%, but ETHA has no staking rewards to offset this cost.

This figure seems reasonable, but the management fee is only the first layer of the fee structure.

The second layer is the staking sharing. Of each staking reward, 82% is allocated to ETF holders, and the remaining 18% serves as a staking fee, paid to the trust sponsor and the broker execution agent. The trust sponsor is BlackRock's iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, and the broker execution agent is Coinbase Inc. After receiving this payment, Coinbase is also responsible for paying downstream validator operators, namely Figment, Galaxy Digital, and Attestant.

The ETHB filing page indicates that 70% to 95% of the ETH holdings will be staked through the custodian Coinbase Custody Trust Company. As of the data on the official website from March 12, ETHB had 41,164 ETH participating in staking, with a staking ratio of 80%. However, after expanding its scale on the 13th, it has not yet actively completed staking, and the current staking ratio is 56%.

Assuming you invest $100, with a staking ratio of 70%–95% and an annualized return of 2.78%, rewards would generate between $1.95 and $2.64.

• First deduction: staking fee of 18%, you actually receive 82% of the rewards, approximately $1.60 to $2.17.
• Second deduction: surface management fee, charged on the total holding of $100, standard rate of 0.25%, promotional rate of 0.12%.

Final yield:

• Under standard rate: $1.60 – $0.25 = $1.35 to $2.17 – $0.25 = $1.92, corresponding to an annualized return of 1.35%–1.92%
• Under promotional rate: $1.60 – $0.12 = $1.48 to $2.17 – $0.12 = $2.05, corresponding to an annualized return of 1.48%–2.05%

Therefore, the nominal staking reward of 2.78%, after two layers of deductions, results in an actual annualized range for investors of approximately 1.35%–2.05%, depending on the current staking ratio and whether within the promotional period.

This is not a cheap product, but it provides a compliant channel for obtaining staking rewards without going through node operators or needing to hold private keys. For institutions operating within a regulated framework, this premium is meaningful.

BlackRock's ETHB is not the first, but it follows the most standard path

When Ethereum spot ETFs were approved in 2024, the SEC's authorization included a clear restriction: funds are not allowed to stake their held ETH. The regulatory logic at that time was that staking might constitute a securities issuance. Consequently, BlackRock's ETHA holders received purely ETH price exposure without additional staking rewards.

This restriction loosened in 2025. In May 2025, the SEC's Corporation Finance department issued guidelines that clarified "staking activities of certain PoS blockchain protocols do not fall within the scope of federal securities law securities transactions," effectively providing a legal green light for Ethereum staking ETFs. Subsequently, regulatory policies were further relaxed.

Prior to ETHB, two institutions had proactively launched Ethereum staking ETFs, choosing paths distinctly different from BlackRock:

REX-Osprey ETH + Staking ETF (ESK) was the first Ethereum staking ETF product listed in the U.S., jointly launched by REX Shares and Osprey Funds on September 25, 2025, on the Cboe BZX exchange.

Unlike IBIT, ETHA, ETHB, which followed the "1933 Act" path (submitting an S-1 registration in the form of a commodity trust or spot ETP, and simultaneously submitting a 19b-4 rule change application to the exchange for double approval to be listed), ESK chose the framework of the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act")—which is the conventional regulatory framework for traditional mutual funds and most stock and bond ETFs.

However, the "1940 Act" itself prohibits direct holdings of crypto assets; REX-Osprey's solution was to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Cayman Islands (REX-Osprey ETH + Staking Cayman Portfolio S.P.), where the subsidiary holds ETH and performs staking operations while the main fund indirectly gains exposure to Ethereum prices and staking rewards through the subsidiary. This structure cleverly bypassed the SEC's direct restrictions on commodity ETFs, achieving compliant implementation of the staking function.

Meanwhile, Grayscale's Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE) took the "old product upgrade" approach. Its predecessor was the Grayscale Ethereum Trust established in 2017, which transformed into an ETF after the Ethereum spot ETF was approved in 2024, listed on NYSE Arca and subjected to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (Act of 1933).

The way ETHE activates staking is by having NYSE Arca submit a revised 19b-4 rule application to the SEC, requesting permission for the already listed Ethereum ETP to include staking capabilities within the existing framework. Compared to undergoing the complete S-1 approval process for a brand new product, modifying existing product rules is much quicker. Therefore, Grayscale completed staking activation about five months before BlackRock (in October 2025).

However, this "patching" method also comes with a cost: ETHE inherits the high fee rate set when it was a trust product, with an annual management fee up to 2.50%, significantly higher than ETHB, leading to notably higher long-term holding costs.

BlackRock's ETHB chose a third path: a completely new compliance filing: in December 2025, BlackRock submitted a new S-1 registration document for ETHB to the SEC, while NASDAQ submitted a 19b-4 rule change application, following the complete approval process for a new product. Ultimately, ETHB completed approval in about three months and was successfully listed in March 2026.

BlackRock did not choose ESK's "roundabout" model, nor did it adopt Grayscale's "old product upgrade," but instead selected the path that is most compliant, transparent, and suitable for institutional-level capital entry. The direct advantage brought by this choice is the lowest fee rate—0.25% annual management fee (promotional period 0.12%), substantially lower than ETHE and better than ESK, becoming a core competitive advantage in attracting institutional investors.

ETHB is established under the framework of the Securities Act of 1933 and enjoys some simplified disclosure arrangements early on as an emerging growth company (EGC), but is not subject to the Investment Company Act of 1940, completely following a two different logical systems than ESK.

Conclusion

The moment Ethereum switched from PoW to PoS, it became an asset that could "yield" just by holding. However, for most participants in traditional finance, the operational threshold for directly staking ETH, custody risks, and compliance barriers render this income path nearly non-existent.

What ETHB does is bundle the on-chain behavior of staking into a container already familiar to Wall Street.

For ESK and ETHE that entered the market earlier, this might be a moment worth being cautious about.

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