September 25: Ethereum is trading above $2,700—at $2,708.77—up 2.55% over the past 24 hours. On the same day, $BTC was at $84,709.7, up 2.02%. Put those two numbers side by side: in this round, $ETH is the one that’s outperforming.
But there’s not much to say about the price itself. What I care about more is another piece of news that happened almost at the same time: Bitwise filed with the SEC an amended S-1 for its spot Ethereum ETF, laying out an entire section covering the staking mechanism, validator operations, slashing risk, and how staking rewards are accounted for. In the original filing, this issuer had explicitly written in black and white that it would not participate in any staking—this time, it effectively retracts that statement.
It’s crucial to clarify first: as of now, the SEC has not approved any spot Ethereum ETF that allows staking. This is still only a proposal.
Why is this more important than $2,700? Because it changes the ETF holders’ revenue structure. Ethereum’s network-wide staking rate is about 34.7%, which corresponds to an individual staking yield of roughly 2.6%. The ETF would also need to charge management fees and set aside costs for custody and validator operations; after deductions, the net yield is likely to land somewhere around 1.9% to 2.2%. In other words, an ETH ETF that cannot stake will, in the long run, fail to outperform simply holding the coins and staking them yourself. Only by putting staking into the product does the ETF become eligible to compete with the “do it yourself” pathway. At present, cumulative net inflows into US spot Ethereum ETFs are about $13.3 billion, with total assets around $16.72 billion—roughly 5.2% of Ethereum’s market cap. This scale isn’t huge, so there’s actually more room for marginal changes, which makes it worth watching closely.
My view is that the pricing focus for $ETH in this round is shifting from “narrative” to “cash flow.” Spot buying can push the price up to $2,700 in a single day, but whether it can stay above $2,700 depends on whether this staking path can be truly unlocked—and how many new investors are willing to hand over their coins in exchange for that yield.
The downside is also clear: who bears slashing losses, validator concentration, the operational capacity of the custodian—until these details are finalized, everything remains in proposal form.
If staking for an Ethereum ETF is ultimately approved, would you swap your ETH for ETF shares, or would you keep staking it yourself?
#Ethereum breaks above $2,700
But there’s not much to say about the price itself. What I care about more is another piece of news that happened almost at the same time: Bitwise filed with the SEC an amended S-1 for its spot Ethereum ETF, laying out an entire section covering the staking mechanism, validator operations, slashing risk, and how staking rewards are accounted for. In the original filing, this issuer had explicitly written in black and white that it would not participate in any staking—this time, it effectively retracts that statement.
It’s crucial to clarify first: as of now, the SEC has not approved any spot Ethereum ETF that allows staking. This is still only a proposal.
Why is this more important than $2,700? Because it changes the ETF holders’ revenue structure. Ethereum’s network-wide staking rate is about 34.7%, which corresponds to an individual staking yield of roughly 2.6%. The ETF would also need to charge management fees and set aside costs for custody and validator operations; after deductions, the net yield is likely to land somewhere around 1.9% to 2.2%. In other words, an ETH ETF that cannot stake will, in the long run, fail to outperform simply holding the coins and staking them yourself. Only by putting staking into the product does the ETF become eligible to compete with the “do it yourself” pathway. At present, cumulative net inflows into US spot Ethereum ETFs are about $13.3 billion, with total assets around $16.72 billion—roughly 5.2% of Ethereum’s market cap. This scale isn’t huge, so there’s actually more room for marginal changes, which makes it worth watching closely.
My view is that the pricing focus for $ETH in this round is shifting from “narrative” to “cash flow.” Spot buying can push the price up to $2,700 in a single day, but whether it can stay above $2,700 depends on whether this staking path can be truly unlocked—and how many new investors are willing to hand over their coins in exchange for that yield.
The downside is also clear: who bears slashing losses, validator concentration, the operational capacity of the custodian—until these details are finalized, everything remains in proposal form.
If staking for an Ethereum ETF is ultimately approved, would you swap your ETH for ETF shares, or would you keep staking it yourself?
#Ethereum breaks above $2,700