IRS Clears the Way for Staking-Enabled Crypto ETFs
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has taken a major step toward modernizing crypto regulation with a new safe harbor that allows exchange-traded products to stake digital assets and share staking rewards with their investors. This decision delivers long-awaited tax clarity, enabling fund managers and custodians to integrate staking yield into regulated products for the first time.
By confirming that trusts can stake assets without jeopardizing their federal tax status, the IRS has effectively removed one of the biggest barriers to institutional adoption of proof-of-stake networks such as Ethereum. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the move a clear path toward innovation, investor benefit, and global leadership in digital finance.
Industry experts, including Consensys senior counsel Bill Hughes, believe this change will significantly increase staking participation, liquidity, and network decentralization—marking a turning point in the evolution of regulated crypto investment products.
As the U.S. positions itself at the forefront of blockchain integration into mainstream finance, this ruling could spark a new wave of yield-generating crypto ETFs, combining traditional market oversight with the innovation of decentralized networks.
