Cboe BZX has submitted a modification application to the US SEC, allowing 21Shares Ethereum ETF to be pledged

The Cboe BZX Exchange has submitted a Form 19b-4, proposing to allow the 21Shares Core Ethereum Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to stake Ethereum, and is currently awaiting further action from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the document, the exchange plans to modify some terms of Amendment No. 2 of Eth ETP to allow staking of Ethereum held by the trust. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart pointed out that this is the first ETF to submit a staking application to SEC. Last year, SEC approved 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF along with those from institutions like BlackRock and Fidelity.

Previously, many companies removed staking clauses from their registration statements before approval by SEC. Under former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's leadership, SEC had stated that Proof-of-Stake (PoS) tokens are securities. However, under Trump administration, it was expected that SEC would take a more friendly stance towards cryptocurrencies and has established a crypto working group planning on classifying certain tokens as "non-securities".