We advised Grayscale on enabling staking for its Ethereum and Solana products, with over $8.5 billion in assets

Davis Polk advised Grayscale Investments on enabling digital asset staking for Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF and Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (traded on NYSE under the symbols “ETHE” and “ETH,” respectively), which became the first U.S.-listed spot crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) to feature staking. In addition, Grayscale Solana Trust (SOL) (traded over the counter under the symbol “GSOL”) has activated staking, becoming one of the few ways for investors to access Solana staking through a traditional brokerage or retirement account. As of today, ETHE, ETH and GSOL hold over a combined $8.5 billion in assets under management.

Notably, ETHE, ETH and GSOL are the first investment vehicles classified as widely held fixed investment trusts for U.S. federal income tax purposes to stake digital assets.

By enabling staking across its Ethereum and Solana products, Grayscale offers investors exposure to the long-term value accrual of these networks while maintaining the products’ core objectives: ETHE and ETH provide spot Ether exposure, and GSOL provides spot Solana exposure. Staking is central to how proof-of-stake blockchains like Ethereum and Solana operate. Users who stake their digital assets facilitate validation of transactions, secure underlying protocols and support long-term network resilience, while receiving tokens in return.

Grayscale will enable staking through institutional custodians and a diversified network of validators, through arrangements designed to comply with the SEC’s recently approved generic listing standards for crypto ETPs.

The Davis Polk tax team included partners Patrick E. Sigmon and Lucy W. Farr and associates William Liang and Seth Cole. The capital markets team included partners Joseph A. Hall and Daniel P. Gibbons and associates Dylan H. Lojac, José Miguel Fernández Mejía and Wilson Lin. Partner Zachary J. Zweihorn and associates Justin Levine and Boaz B. Goldwater provided financial institutions advice. Members of the Davis Polk team are based in the New York and Washington DC offices.

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