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BlackRock filed an updated S-1 on February 18, 2026, revealing affiliate purchases of 4,000 seed shares of the iShares staked ETH ETF (ETHB) at $25 each, providing $100,000 initial capital. According to documents attached to a post shared by James Seyffart on X, the $14 trillion asset manager will fund ETH purchases and staking with the proceeds. The fund aims to stake up to 95% of assets under normal conditions.
NEW: updated filing for BlackRock’s @iShares staked Ethereum ETF. Ticker $ETHB. Filing includes expense ratio which will be 0.25%. pic.twitter.com/CW7pKVoJXX
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) February 17, 2026
The mechanism is standard for ETF launches. Seeding provides initial liquidity for creation units, allowing the trust to hold and stake ETH directly. This is markedly different from non-staked ETHA (spot ETF), which holds ETH without rewards. ETHB introduces yield potential but adds slashing risks and lockups.
BlackRock had taken the initial steps toward launching a staked Ethereum ETF in December 2025, by filing an S-1 registration statement with the SEC for the iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF. It was set to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ETHB. The initial filing followed BlackRock’s earlier creation of a Delaware trust company for the product, and came shortly after competitor Grayscale converted its Ether and ETHB ETFs into partially staked vehicles.
The official prospectus filing for ishares Staked Ethereum ETF, their fourth crypto filing. Spot btc, eth, btc income and now this. pic.twitter.com/M6vRxiGm78
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 8, 2025
Coinbase was named as custodian, mirroring its role for BlackRock’s existing non-staked ETHA spot ETF, which held roughly $11 billion in Ether at the time. However, a specific staking provider has not yet been announced, with the trust permitted to select multiple.
The proposed ETHB fund would operate as a standalone vehicle focused on delivering staking rewards to public-market investors, with BlackRock indicating it would charge both management and staking fees.
The filing updates a December proposal for ETHB, which would compete with similar staking products if approved. Critics have noted that staking introduces trade-offs, higher returns from the current 3 – 4% APR, vs. reduced liquidity during unstaking periods. Some have also raised questions about timing amid crypto downturns.
However, supporters of the move see it as TradFi’s bet on ETH’s long-term utility. It is BlackRock’s calculated step into staking rewards, contrasting with ETHA’s pure spot exposure by adding yield but introducing validator risks like slashing, which has been historically low at <0.1% annual rate.
In the short term, this move could catalyze the ETF launch and ETH buying. For the long-term, it depicts institutional demand for productive crypto assets. Metrics show ETHA’s AUM drop from $11B to $6.5B amid volatility, revealing the trade-offs involved. Hence, staking boosts APY but ties up capital. If approved, ETHB could pull flows from non-yielding ETFs.
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