VanEck has requested permission from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to withdraw its proposed Lido Staked Ethereum ETF.
The October 14, 2026, request ends plans to offer U.S. brokerage investors exposure to Lido's stETH token almost one year after the original application. The fund never launched or sold shares.
VanEck Digital Assets asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to withdraw the fund's registration under Rule 477 of the Securities Act of 1933. Its Form RW covers the original application, filed October 16, 2025, and subsequent amendments.
The asset manager wrote that it “does not intend to proceed with the planned distribution” of the fund's shares. However, it gave no commercial or regulatory reason for the decision. The filing also made no reference to a replacement product.
VanEck confirmed the registration statement “has not been declared effective” and that “no securities have been or will be issued or sold” under it. No preliminary prospectus reached investors. Therefore, the decision ends a proposed offering, not an operating ETF with shareholders or assets to liquidate.
The company requested an effective withdrawal date of October 14 or the earliest practicable date afterward. Vice President Matthew A. Babinsky signed the filing, numbered 333-290918.
VanEck originally proposed a fund that would hold stETH directly and track its price after operating expenses. Investors would have bought shares through regular brokerage accounts without needing to manage a crypto wallet or hold stETH themselves.
Lido issues stETH when users deposit Ether into its staking protocol. The token represents their staked ETH and the rewards generated by helping secure the Ethereum network. As rewards accumulate, Lido adjusts stETH balances through a process known as rebasing.
That structure differs from a conventional spot Ethereum fund. VanEck planned to gain staking exposure by holding an existing liquid-staking token, rather than staking ETH directly. It proposed a MarketVector benchmark to calculate share values.
The prospectus warned that staking rewards were not guaranteed. It also listed risks involving validator penalties, smart-contract failures and limited token liquidity. The proposed ETF would have held stETH, not Lido's separate LDO governance token.
The withdrawal does not end U.S. brokerage access to Ethereum staking. Grayscale's Ethereum Staking ETF (ETHE) and Ethereum Staking Mini ETF (ETH) already offer staking exposure through funds that hold Ether rather than stETH. Grayscale launched staking for both products in October 2025.
Meanwhile, Interactive Brokers announced Ethereum staking for eligible clients on October 13, 2026, through zerohash. Those clients can stake ETH within their brokerage accounts, although the service differs from buying shares in a stETH-backed ETF.
Outside the U.S., WisdomTree launched a European exchange-traded product fully backed by stETH in December 2025.
The regulatory environment has also changed. In September 2026, SEC staff explained that certain staking receipt tokens may qualify as digital tools or digital commodities, depending on their structure. However, the guidance is not an SEC rule and does not approve individual ETFs.
VanEck did not connect its withdrawal to that guidance, competing staking products or Ethereum market conditions.
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