BlackRock Launches ETHB: Ethereum ETF Enters 'Interest-Bearing Age'

Original Title: "BlackRock's 'Staked Ethereum ETF': The Heaviest of Them All"

Original Author: KarenZ, Foresight News

On March 12, 2026, Nasdaq listed a different kind of crypto ETF: the Ethereum Trust ETF with Staking Yield, 'ETHB'.

This is BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF, also the third crypto ETF from the world's largest asset manager.

ETHB saw approximately $15.5 million in trading volume on its first day of trading and around $76 million on the second day (March 13). In terms of size, ETHB launched with around $100 million and currently sits at about $170 million.

It is worth noting that many reports have crowned BlackRock's ETHB as the "first Ethereum staking ETF in the U.S." 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 heaviest one.

First Things First: What Is ETHB Exactly?

To understand ETHB, you must first grasp Ethereum's "staking" mechanism. After Ethereum's merge in 2022, it switched to a Proof-of-Stake mechanism to maintain network security.

In simple terms, you lock up ETH in the network, help validate transactions, and the system rewards you, akin to interest on a deposit—except the interest rate is dynamically determined by the network.

According to Ethereum Validator Queue data, the current annualized return is 2.78%. This number may not seem significant, but for those intending to hold ETH long-term, it represents tangible additional income. For institutional investors, this income is even more significant—missing out on staking rewards for managing a multi-million-dollar ETH exposure translates to a real opportunity cost.

What ETHB does is: legalize and productize this process, allowing retail investors to benefit from this "interest" while gaining ETH price exposure through a regular brokerage account, without needing to research how to stake or select validator nodes.

What is ETHB's Fee Structure?

Breaking down ETHB's fee into layers, the first layer is the management fee, set at 0.25% per year, with a promotional discount of 0.12% for the first 12 months or first $2.5 billion. This aligns with ETHA's 0.25%, but ETHA does not have staking rewards to offset this cost.

While this number may seem reasonable, the management fee is just the first layer of the fee structure.

The second layer is the staking split. Of each staking reward, 82% is allocated to ETF holders, while the remaining 18% serves as staking fees paid to the trust sponsor and the broker-dealer execution agent. The trust sponsor is the iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC, a subsidiary of BlackRock, while the broker-dealer execution agent is Coinbase Inc.

After receiving this fee, Coinbase is also responsible for further disbursing the funds to downstream validator operators, namely Figment, Galaxy Digital, and Attestant.

The ETHB filing page indicates that 70% to 95% of the ETH held will be staked through the custodian Coinbase Custody Trust Company. As of the data on the website as of March 12th, ETHB has 41,164 ETH staked, representing an 80% staking ratio. However, after the scale-up on the 13th, staking has not been completed proactively, and the current staking ratio is 56%.

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

· First Layer deduction: Staking Fee 18%, you receive 82% of the rewards, about $1.60 to $2.17.

· Second Layer deduction: Management fee, charged at 0.25% of the total holdings of $100, with a discounted rate of 0.12% during the promotional period.

Final Net Yield:

· At standard rate: $1.60 – $0.25 = $1.35 to $2.17 – $0.25 = $1.92, corresponding to an annualized 1.35%–1.92%

· Under the promotional rate: $1.60 – $0.12 = $1.48 to $2.17 – $0.12 = $2.05, corresponding to an annualized 1.48%–2.05%

Therefore, with a nominal 2.78% staking yield, after two layers of deduction, the actual annualized range that investors can receive is approximately between 1.35%–2.05%, depending on the current staking ratio and whether it is within the promotional period.

This is not a cheap product, but it provides a compliant channel for staking rewards that does not require node operation or holding private keys. For institutions operating within a regulated framework, this premium makes sense.

BlackRock's ETHB is not the first, but it takes the most standardized approach

When the 2024 Ethereum spot ETF was launched, the SEC's approval came with a clear restriction: the fund cannot stake the ETH it holds. The regulatory logic at the time was that staking could constitute a securities issuance. Therefore, BlackRock ETHA holders only receive the pure ETH price exposure without additional staking rewards.

This restriction was eased in 2025.

In May 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's SEC Corporation Finance division issued guidance, explicitly stating that "certain PoS blockchain protocol staking activities do not fall within the purview of federal securities laws," effectively giving the Ethereum staking ETF a legal green light. Subsequent regulatory policies further relaxed.

Prior to ETHB, two institutions had already launched Ethereum staking ETFs, taking a completely different path from BlackRock:

The 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 trading platform.

Unlike IBIT, ETHA, ETHB, and others following the "1933 Act" path (submitting an S-1 registration in the form of a commodity trust or spot ETP, simultaneously requesting a 19b-4 rule modification from the trading platform, requiring dual approval before listing), ESK opted for the "1940 Investment Company Act" ("1940 Act") framework— the standard regulatory framework for traditional mutual funds, most stock, and bond ETFs.

However, the "1940 Act" itself prohibits direct holding of crypto assets. REX-Osprey's solution is: to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Cayman Islands (REX-Osprey ETH + Staking Cayman Portfolio S.P.), with the subsidiary holding ETH and conducting staking operations. The main fund obtains Ethereum price exposure and staking rewards indirectly through the subsidiary. This structure cleverly circumvents the SEC's direct restrictions on commodity ETFs, achieving compliant staking implementation.

On the other hand, the Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE) took the path of "product upgrade." Its predecessor was the Grayscale Ethereum Trust established in 2017, which converted to an ETF in 2024 following the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF, listed on NYSE Arca, and subject to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933.

The way ETHE activated staking was: NYSE Arca submitted a revised Rule 19b-4 application to the SEC, requesting permission for the already listed Ethereum ETP to incorporate staking within the existing framework. Modifying the rules of an existing product is much faster than going through the full S-1 approval process for a brand-new product. Therefore, Grayscale completed staking activation approximately five months before Belridge (in October 2025).

However, this "patching" approach also comes with a cost: ETHE inherited the high fee rate set when it was a trust product, with an annual management fee of up to 2.50%, much higher than ETHB, resulting in significantly higher long-term holding costs.

Belridge ETHB chose the third path: a completely new compliance declaration. In December 2025, Belridge submitted a brand-new S-1 registration file for ETHB to the SEC, concurrently submitting a 19b-4 rule modification application to Nasdaq, following the full approval process for a new product. Ultimately, ETHB was approved in about three months and successfully listed in March 2026.

Belridge did not choose ESK's "detour" model or adopt Grayscale's "old product upgrade" approach but instead chose the most compliant, transparent, and institutionally suitable path.

The direct advantage of this choice is the lowest fee rate—an annual management fee of 0.25% (0.12% during the promotional period), significantly lower than ETHE, and better than ESK, becoming one of its core competitive advantages in attracting institutional investors.

ETHB was established based on the 1933 Securities Act and initially benefited from some simplified disclosure arrangements as an Emerging Growth Company (EGC), but was not bound by the 1940 Investment Company Act, following a completely different logic system from ESK.

Summary

From the moment Ethereum switched from PoW to PoS, it became an asset that could "earn while holding." However, for most participants in traditional finance, the barriers to directly staking ETH, including operational thresholds, custody risks, and compliance obstacles, have made this revenue path virtually impractical.

What ETHB has done is package the on-chain staking activity into a container familiar to Wall Street.

For early entrants like ESK and ETHE, this may be a moment to be cautious about.

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