- VanEck filed for the first-ever Lido Staked Ethereum ETF, giving investors exposure to both ETH and staking rewards.
- The SEC’s new Generic Listing Standards could fast-track approval, cutting the review time from 240 to just 75 days.
- Following the news, stETH fell 5.7% to around $3,775, even as trading volume rose 17%.
VanEck is once again shaking things up in the crypto ETF race. The asset manager just filed for a Lido Staked Ethereum ETF with the US SEC — becoming the first to pursue a product built around Lido’s liquid staking token, stETH. The move signals VanEck’s growing confidence in the Ethereum staking ecosystem, even as stETH’s price took a slight dip after the news.
A Bold Step Into Liquid Staking
According to the SEC filing dated October 16, VanEck’s proposed ETF will directly track the Lido Staked Ethereum (stETH) price using MarketVector’s benchmark index. Investors in the fund would gain regulated exposure not only to Ethereum but also to staking rewards generated through the Lido protocol. It’s a big step — one that bridges DeFi’s yield opportunities with the traditional finance world.
VanEck, which manages around $133 billion in assets, had already hinted at this move by registering the Lido ETF trust in Delaware just a week earlier. Interestingly, this isn’t VanEck’s first dance with liquid staking. A few months ago, it tried integrating JitoSOL, a Solana-based staking token, into a regulated ETF product.
Why Lido Matters Here
Lido is currently the largest Ethereum staking protocol, letting users stake ETH without running validator nodes. It issues stETH, a token that mirrors both the user’s deposited ETH and their earned staking rewards. As of now, data from DeFiLlama shows roughly 8.49 million ETH, valued at over $33 billion, locked on Lido — that’s nearly 60% of the total market share for liquid staking.
This dominance makes Lido a natural choice for a staking-backed ETF, especially as institutions look for safer, regulated ways to tap into Ethereum’s yield opportunities without dealing with the complexities of DeFi directly.
The SEC and What Comes Next
Thanks to the SEC’s new Generic Listing Standards, VanEck might not have to wait as long as usual. The updated rules shorten the approval timeline for crypto ETFs from 240 days to just 75 days under the Securities Act of 1933. Other funds, like Hashdex’s Crypto Index ETF, have already benefited from this streamlined process.
However, not all news is glowing. Since the filing went public, stETH has dropped about 5.7%, trading near $3,775 despite a 17% boost in 24-hour trading volume. Still, the filing marks a milestone — the first-ever bid to merge Lido’s DeFi staking with the regulated ETF market.
