21Shares Proposes Sei ETF with Staking Features

21Shares submitted an S-1 registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday for a Sei ETF, amidst the agency's ongoing assessments of various altcoin-related exchange-traded fund applications. In its prospectus, 21Shares expressed interest in exploring staking for SEI tokens, aiming for the ETF to offer rewards derived from staking a portion of its SEI holdings. However, the SEC has not widely approved staking for ETFs yet. Other firms, including Grayscale and BlackRock, have pending applications to incorporate staking into their Ethereum ETFs, but none have received approval yet. The SEC recently postponed a decision on Grayscale's application to include staking in its ETH fund. The proposed 21Shares Sei ETF intends to provide direct market exposure to the price of SEI, the native token of the Sei network. The SEC currently faces a growing number of applications for ETFs tracking altcoins, including Litecoin, Solana, Dogecoin, and XRP, all awaiting approval. Last week, the SEC also delayed decisions on Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs from Truth Social, a platform managed by Trump Media & Technology Group. Regarding staking activities for ETFs, Nate Geraci, president of NovaDius Wealth, recently indicated that the SEC might be nearing a ruling, following the agency's declaration that some liquid staking operations do not constitute securities. In May, the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance noted that certain blockchain staking activities might not involve securities, raising hopes that staking could eventually be permitted in crypto ETFs. Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet providing news and insights. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block. This article serves only as information and should not be viewed as legal or financial advice.