What happened: Fidelity has secured regulatory approval to stake up to 100% of the assets held in its spot Ethereum (FETH) and Solana (FSOL) exchange-traded funds. While FSOL was already operating near this limit at 99.64%, FETH is set to begin staking following a rule change. The move allows the asset manager to actively stake underlying tokens to generate additional income.
Why it matters: This is a massive milestone for bridging crypto-native yield with traditional finance, signaling a potential regulatory shift by the SEC. While staking boosts returns and helps offset management costs, it ties up capital. Investors now face a trade-off: staking unlocks extra rewards, but unstaking delays—about two days for Solana and variable times for Ethereum—introduce liquidity risks during heavy market demand.
