Fidelity, which manages assets worth 11.5 trillion dollars, made a significant change in its spot Ethereum application.
Fidelity added a “staking” option to its application for a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The giant company announced that investors will be able to stake “some of their Ethereum assets” and emphasized that passive yield rewards in Ethereum will be allocated for the staking activities:
Investors can stake some of their Ethereum assets through a reliable staking provider. As compensation for services rendered for any staking activity that the fund may participate in, investors will receive Ethereum network rewards in certain amounts, which may be considered income to the fund.
LDO rose but Bitcoin didn’t allow
The introduction of the staking option by the company also had a positive impact on the price of Lido Finance (LDO), one of the largest staking platforms on the Ethereum network. Although LDO experienced a 9% increase after the announcement, it quickly lost its gain due to the general market decline.
Many financial giants, including Fidelity and BlackRock, applied to the SEC for a spot Ethereum ETF last year. However, the regulatory agency has not had significant interaction with the companies wishing to issue spot Ethereum ETFs so far, leading to diminished expectations for approval.
Experienced Bloomberg analysts last reduced the likelihood of spot Ethereum ETF approval in May from 70% to 30%. The SEC had requested an investigation into “possible risks” associated with staking and proof of stake (PoS) mechanisms.
