Grayscale plans to formalize regular cash distributions of staking rewards from its Ethereum and Solana products, although the proposed changes would affect ETHE and GSOL differently.
Key Takeaways
According to separate ETHE and GSOL prospectus supplements filed on July 17, Grayscale intends to amend the funds’ trust agreements on or around August 7, 2026.
The revised agreements would require staking rewards to be converted into cash no less frequently than quarterly and the net proceeds to be distributed to shareholders. Expenses connected with operating and facilitating the staking programs would be deducted before payment.
Grayscale has not announced fixed distribution amounts, record dates or payment dates. Those details will depend on the rewards earned during each period and the costs charged to the funds.
The proposed changes also come as E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley expands spot trading access to ETH and SOL for eligible U.S. clients. E*TRADE provides direct price exposure through a brokerage account, while ETHE and GSOL could offer shareholders a separate route to receive cash generated from staking rewards.
Why Grayscale Is Changing the Trust Agreements
The proposed language closely follows IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-31, which created a tax safe harbor for qualifying digital-asset investment trusts that participate in staking.
One condition requires net staking rewards to be distributed in kind or converted into cash and paid to shareholders at least quarterly. Existing trusts were given nine months from November 10, 2025 to amend their governing documents.
The planned August 7 effective date falls within that transition period. Grayscale could still make payments more frequently, but the proposed agreements would establish a minimum schedule.
ETHE Has Already Paid More Than $19 Million
ETHE already sells staking rewards and distributes the proceeds to shareholders, so the amendment would formalize an existing practice rather than introduce it for the first time.
The fund’s first distribution covered rewards earned between October 6 and December 31, 2025. Grayscale paid exactly $9,397,326, equivalent to $0.083178 per share, on January 6, 2026.
ETHE’s subsequent official disclosures show four additional payments:
- February 4: $2,750,310, or $0.025709 per share
- March 4: $2,242,052, or $0.021011 per share
- April 8: $2,390,145, or $0.022794 per share
- May 6: $2,470,197, or $0.024577 per share
The five distributions listed in ETHE’s latest official quarterly report total $19,250,030, or a combined $0.177269 per share.
Those figures cover only the payments confirmed through May 6. They should not be treated as a complete 2026 total or used as a guaranteed benchmark for future quarters.
GSOL Would Change How Investors Receive Rewards
GSOL’s current framework gives Grayscale discretion to retain staking rewards inside the trust, distribute SOL or cash to shareholders, or combine those approaches.
Rewards retained by the fund increase its SOL balance and can raise the amount represented by each share. Under the proposed amendment, the relevant rewards would instead be sold regularly and distributed as cash after expenses.
This means shareholders would receive the benefit through periodic payments rather than relying primarily on rewarded SOL accumulating inside the trust. Selling the rewards also means that portion would no longer remain invested and compound with the fund’s other holdings.
Fund Fees Will Reduce the Native Staking Return
ETHE’s latest quarterly filing lists an annual sponsor fee of 2.5% of the trust’s applicable asset value. It also states that the sponsor, custodian and staking provider collectively received 23% of gross staking consideration at the time of the report.
GSOL’s June 25 filing reduced its annual sponsor fee from 0.35% to 0.19% and lowered the sponsor’s staking fee from 23% to 7% of gross staking consideration.
These percentages are not forecasts of what shareholders will receive. The final distribution will also depend on how much of each fund’s assets are staked, the rewards generated and the price at which ETH or SOL is converted into dollars.
Ethereum’s Official APR Was 2.65% on July 20
The official Ethereum Staking Launchpad showed a staking APR of 2.65% on July 20. It also reported 38,383,163 ETH staked across 887,710 validators.
That is a network-level validator rate, not ETHE’s expected shareholder yield. The fund does not necessarily stake all the ETH it holds, and its distributions are reduced by the charges described in its filings.
Ethereum validators earn consensus rewards for proposing and attesting to blocks. Block proposers may also receive priority fees and income connected with maximal extractable value, or MEV. Ethereum’s base transaction fee is burned and should not be counted as staking income.
Solana Publishes No Single Fixed Staking APY
Solana’s official staking documentation did not display one current network-wide APY on July 20.
The documentation explains that annualized returns change every epoch, with each epoch lasting approximately two days. The result depends on network inflation, the amount of active stake, validator performance and validator commission.
The suggested range of 5.6% to 6.0% may resemble estimates shown by individual validators or external platforms, but it should not be presented as an official Solana rate for July 20.
Solana’s documented issuance model began with an 8% annual inflation rate, designed to decline by 15% each year until approaching a long-term rate of 1.5%. Those figures describe the token’s inflation schedule, not the cash yield GSOL shareholders will receive.
What Could Shape Future ETHE and GSOL Payments
The immediate confirmation will be whether Grayscale implements the amendments on or around August 7.
GSOL’s first declared record date, payment date and per-share distribution will show how the new cash payout structure works in practice. For ETHE, the next payments will indicate whether the revised agreement materially changes the frequency of its existing distribution program.
Neither product offers a fixed dividend. Each payment will reflect the rewards earned during the period, applicable fund charges, token prices during conversion and the number of eligible shares.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, tax or investment advice.
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP.
Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem.
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