VanEck has pulled the plug on its Lido Staked Ethereum ETF. The asset manager withdrew its registration with the SEC and confirmed that no shares have been issued and none will be.
The proposal was a first. VanEck was the first firm to file for a US ETF tied to Lido’s liquid staking token, stETH.
What VanEck was trying to build
The fund’s timeline was short. VanEck registered the product as a Delaware statutory trust around October 2, 2025.
An S-1 registration statement followed. It reached the SEC sometime between October 16 and October 20, 2025.
The ETF would hold stETH, giving investors exposure to Ethereum staking rewards without touching the blockchain themselves. The design aimed to offer daily liquidity and on-chain transparency, packaged in a format institutional investors already understand.
The ETF would have let a pension fund or wealth manager collect staking yield through a brokerage account. No wallets, no validators, no explaining private keys to the compliance department. The structure was also pitched as tax-efficient.
The numbers behind the bet
At the time of the filing, Lido’s total value locked was reported to be in the range of $38–40 billion.
Lido also reported over $2 billion in cumulative staking rewards distributed since its launch.
Markets noticed the filing. Lido’s LDO governance token rallied approximately 7% after the initial ETF announcement.
A short life, an unexplained exit
VanEck’s withdrawal notice confirmed the registration was withdrawn and that the fund will never issue shares. The firm did not disclose a specific rationale for the decision. The timing of the reversal was also left unexplained.
The regulatory backdrop
The withdrawal lands during a period of shifting SEC thinking on staking. The regulator has issued guidance that distinguishes certain liquid staking activities from securities.
Interest in liquid staking ETFs has not vanished with VanEck’s exit. Development of these products continues in both the US and Europe.
What this means for staking products and LDO
For LDO holders, the lesson is about what actually drove that roughly 7% rally. Much of it reflected expectations about future institutional flows. With the fund withdrawn, those specific flows are off the table, at least through this vehicle.
Lido’s fundamentals, as reported at the time of the filing, did not depend on the ETF. A protocol with $38–40 billion in TVL and over $2 billion in cumulative rewards distributed was not waiting on VanEck to exist.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.