Fidelity to add staking and quarterly payouts to its $900 million ether ETF

Fidelity International announced that its ether exchange‑traded fund, which holds assets close to $900 million, will incorporate staking and begin issuing quarterly payouts to shareholders.

Under the new structure the fund will retain 85% of the gross staking rewards generated by the ether it holds, while the remaining 15% will be paid to third‑party service providers that facilitate the staking process.

Staking involves locking ether to support the Ethereum network’s proof‑of‑stake consensus mechanism, earning rewards that are proportional to the amount staked. By passing those rewards through the ETF, investors can capture both price appreciation of ether and a yield component without directly managing staking themselves.

The move marks one of the first instances of a major U.S. asset manager embedding on‑chain staking returns into a listed crypto fund, expanding the product’s appeal to income‑seeking investors.

Analysts note that the addition of a yield element could boost demand for the fund, potentially drawing inflows from investors looking for exposure to digital assets with a cash‑flow component.

The structure complies with existing U.S. securities regulations, with the quarterly distribution schedule designed to meet reporting and payout requirements set by the SEC.

Fidelity expects the quarterly payouts to begin shortly after the staking mechanism is operational, and the firm indicated that the reward split is intended to balance investor returns with the costs of the underlying staking infrastructure.