In recent months, staking has come under increasing scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

ARK Invest and 21Shares have amended their proposed S-1 form for a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) and removed the staking component, according to a May 10 filing.

In February, ARK Invest and 21Shares updated their filings to introduce the option to stake Ethereum in addition to cash-only redemptions. Staking is seen as a great way for fund managers to generate income from the large amounts of cryptocurrencies their ETFs control, rather than just earning money through management fees.

Nevertheless, experts suggested at the time that ARK Invest’s proposal for Ethereum staking was more of a “tentative” move to test the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) attitude, rather than a firm expectation that the proposal would be approved by the securities regulator.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has indicated that staking activities could cause the underlying assets to be considered securities, a disadvantage for spot Ethereum ETFs that aim to avoid such characterizations. Just last year, the SEC fined Kraken and forced it to terminate its staking services.

Legendary trader Peter Brandt said in a recent X post that the SEC is about to crack down on staking activities.

ARK Invest’s recent revisions to its application have increased market speculation about ongoing discussions between the SEC and applicants for spot Ethereum ETFs, suggesting that the application content may be being adjusted based on the SEC’s preferences.

The reasons behind ARK Invest’s recent amendment to its application have not been publicly disclosed, as no official statement has been released by the parties involved.

Cryptocurrency analysts generally believe that May is extremely critical for the future development of spot Ethereum ETFs. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will make an important decision on the future direction of these ETFs this month. Specifically, the SEC will make a ruling on VanEck's application before May 23. At present, the general consensus among analysts is that the application is likely to be rejected.

Earlier this week, Grayscale, a leading global digital asset manager, withdrew its application for an Ethereum futures ETF, likely to avoid legal liability challenges in the event of a rejection by the SEC.

Recently, Grayscale, the world's leading digital asset manager, withdrew its application for an Ethereum futures exchange-traded fund (ETF). This move may be to avoid the legal challenges and responsibilities that the company will face independently if the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not approve it. #ARKInvest #以太坊现货ETF