When spot Ethereum ETFs received SEC approval in 2024, they came with a significant constraint attached: the funds were explicitly prohibited from staking the ETH they held. Regulators at the time were concerned that staking arrangements might constitute unregistered securities offerings, a legal question that Gary Gensler’s SEC had no appetite to resolve in favor of asset managers. That prohibition has now been reversed, and the product BlackRock launched on Nasdaq on March 12 is the clearest possible demonstration of how much the regulatory landscape has shifted. The iShares Staked Ethereum Trust, trading under the ticker ETHB, is BlackRock’s third