VanEck formally withdrew its application for a Lido Staked Ethereum Exchange-Traded Fund on Oct. 14, 2026, a year after initial filing. Matthew Babinsky, vice president of VanEck Digital Assets, submitted a Form RW to the Securities and Exchange Commission, stating the sponsor "does not intend to proceed with the planned distribution" of the trust's shares.
The registration statement was never declared effective and no shares were sold to investors.
When VanEck filed the S-1 in October 2025, Lido positioned the fund as offering Ethereum staking economics with daily liquidity and transparent on-chain backing. The product would have held stETH—the liquid staking token issued by Lido—rather than staking ether directly through validators.
BlackRock launched its competing iShares Staked Ethereum Trust (ETHB) in March 2026. By March 31, ETHB had accumulated $409.8 million in net assets. BlackRock's fund stakes ether directly through validators, bypassing reliance on a third-party liquid staking token and eliminating an extra layer of risk.
Liquid staking tokens like stETH can trade at a discount to ether during market stress. A fund holding stETH would see its value drift from the underlying asset if such a discount materialized—a risk a direct-staking fund avoids.
Interactive Brokers this week rolled out ether staking services through a partnership with Zerohash, allowing clients to earn yield directly in a regular brokerage account without needing an ETF.
Lido's total value locked has declined to roughly $23.6 billion, down from approximately $33.3 billion a year ago. The drop partly reflects ether's price slide, with ETH trading near $2,450.
U.S. spot bitcoin and ether ETFs collectively lost $391 million in a single session this week. Launching a niche staked ether product built on a single protocol's token into these outflows would have been a difficult sell. VanEck would have needed to compete with BlackRock on fees and distribution in an environment where staking fund demand is softening.
