Solana and XRP Funds Are Live, and Several Pay Staking Rewards
Spot exchange-traded funds have expanded well beyond bitcoin, with Solana products launching with staking enabled at yields around 6% to 7% and an Ethereum staking fund arriving in March.
The exchange-traded fund wrapper that transformed bitcoin's investor base has now been extended across the asset class.
Spot funds holding Solana and XRP are trading and taking in money, having launched in late 2025. Ethereum funds, which arrived in 2024, have been joined by versions that stake the underlying tokens: one issuer's staked product has been running since October 2025, and the largest asset manager launched its own in March.
What staking adds
Proof-of-stake networks pay holders for locking tokens to help validate transactions. Ethereum yields have generally run around 3% to 4%; Solana products have offered something closer to 6% to 7%.
Inside a fund, that transforms the product from a pure price bet into something with a yield component — which matters enormously to the allocators these funds are designed for. An asset that pays nothing has to be justified entirely on appreciation. An asset that pays 6% can be discussed in the same conversation as other income-producing holdings.
The complications
Staking inside a fund raises problems the bitcoin products never faced.
Liquidity. Staked tokens have unbonding periods, which conflicts with a fund's obligation to meet daily redemptions. Managers hold unstaked buffers, which reduces the yield actually passed through.
Slashing. A validator that misbehaves or goes offline can lose a portion of the staked tokens. Funds mitigate this by using multiple professional validators, but the risk is not zero.
Tax treatment. How staking rewards are characterized and when they become taxable remains an area where guidance has lagged practice.
The access question
The more consequential development is distribution. Several of the largest wealth management platforms have recently approved crypto exchange-traded funds for their clients' accounts, which puts these products in front of advisers who could not previously recommend them.
That expansion of the buyer base is happening at exactly the moment existing holders are redeeming: U.S. spot bitcoin funds posted roughly $5.4 billion in net outflows in the first half.
Whether newly available demand offsets departing demand is the question that determines the asset class's next twelve months.
