Bitwise and 21Shares Add Staking, Slash Fees in Latest Solana and Ethereum ETF Filings

Two major crypto ETF issuers are joining the rush to bring crypto asset staking to the U.S.

Bitwise and 21Shares each unveiled updates to their crypto funds on Tuesday, cutting fees and adding staking features for investors, just days after Grayscale became the first to introduce staking in its U.S. Ethereum ETFs.

Bitwise’s latest filing formally renames its product to the aptly titled “Bitwise Solana Staking ETF,” while adding language that allows it to “seek to provide exposure to the value of Solana held by the Trust.”

It also introduces a 0.20% unitary management fee, a single charge that covers all fund operating costs, waived for the first three months on the first $1 billion in assets.

At that rate, the proposed fee undercuts most competing crypto ETF filings, which typically range between 0.21% and 0.25%, and matches the lowest levels seen among approved crypto products.

21Shares, meanwhile, announced enhancements to its 21Shares Ethereum ETF (TETH), adding staking and waiving its 0.21% sponsor fee for 12 months starting October 9.

The move is being touted as a “natural evolution of Ethereum investment products in the U.S. market,” Federico Brokate, head of U.S. business at 21Shares, said in a statement.

By adding staking, the funds would earn small rewards from helping secure blockchains like Solana or Ethereum. Those rewards flow back into the ETF, providing investors with an opportunity to earn additional income from the same assets, rather than relying solely on price gains.

Institutional investors “will likely be more interested in how much of the staking yield will be passed to them,” Maksim Balashevich, founder and CEO of crypto analytics firm Santiment, told Decrypt.

In conversation, when it was noted that some investors hold overlapping positions in digital asset treasuries tied to Solana and Ethereum, Balashevich suggested those holders may view staking ETFs as a simpler way to consolidate yield and manage exposure.“

“Yield is what is different,” in this case, he said. “The battle will likely be on this field.”

Commenting on Bitwise, Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on X that the firm is “not playing around,” adding that low fees have a “near perfect record of attracting investors,” and is a “good sign for inflow potential.”

Balchunas did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s questions on whether this could ostensibly mark a race to the bottom similar to the so-called “fee war” that broke out ahead of the SEC’s approval of U.S. Bitcoin ETFs in January last year.

Bitwise declined Decrypt’s request for comment. Decrypt has reached out to 21Shares.