Asset management company VanEck has requested the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to withdraw its proposed Lido Staked Ethereum ETF registration application, bringing to an end the fund plan that was intended to hold stETH tokens and earn Ethereum staking rewards.

VanEck Digital Assets confirmed this decision in a document submitted on October 14, nearly a year after it submitted its original registration statement on October 16, 2025. The company stated that it no longer intends to issue shares to the proposed fund and confirmed that no securities have been issued or sold. The document did not disclose the reasons that led to this decision.

VanEck Withdrawal Lido Pledge Ethereum ETF Plan

This withdrawal request involves VanEck Lido Staked Ethereum ETF, which is a proposed investment product that was intended to allow investors to obtain Ethereum staking exposure through shares held in traditional brokerage accounts.

In the file, VanEck Digital Assets requests that SEC withdraw the registration statement for that fund, as well as its subsequent revisions and supporting attachments.

The company made this request in accordance with Article 477 of the Securities Act of 1933. This provision outlines the procedures for withdrawing certain securities registration declarations with the consent of the regulatory authorities.

VanEck indicates that the company 'has no intention of continuing with' the planned issuance of these fund shares.

The asset management company confirmed that the registration statement was never effective. The company stated that no shares were issued or sold, and investors did not receive a preliminary prospectus.

Therefore, this proposed fund never commenced operations as a public offering of ETF. Since the issuance was not pursued, there is no issue of existing holders needing to redeem their investments.

File request SEC approval for withdrawal to take effect from October 14th or as soon as possible thereafter.

VanEck did not specify any alternative investment products, nor did it mention whether there were plans to return with another ETF that is linked to the tokens pledged with Lido.

This document was signed by Vice President VanEck Digital Assets, Matthew A, and Babinsky, and was submitted with the registration number 333-290918.

VanEck What does the original Ethereum ETF offer?

VanEck initially submitted a registration statement on October 16, 2025, proposing to launch a ETF that holds stETH. stETH is a tradable collateral token issued through the Lido protocol.

The investment objective of this fund is to track the price of stETH after deducting operating expenses.

Unlike the traditional spot Ethereum ETF that mainly holds ETH, the product proposed for VanEck will hold tokens that represent Ethereum that has been deposited into the Lido collateral system.

Staking allows participants to help secure the security of the Ethereum network and earn rewards by supporting the transaction verification process.

Through Lido, users can deposit ETH and receive stETH which represents their underlying deposits and cumulative staking rewards.

This token adopts a rebasing mechanism, which means that as rewards are earned from underlying Ethereum staking positions, holders will acquire more stETH over time.

VanEck The initial prospectus explained that the fund was expected to obtain certain质押 rewards by holding stETH.

However, these rewards are not guaranteed. The document lists risks related to validator penalties, smart contracts, liquidity, and changes in the value of the Ethereum market.

The proposed ETF will track stETH using a benchmark developed by MarketVector, which is an affiliated party of the asset management company.

VanEck intends to operate this product as a passive investment tool. Its prospectus states that the fund will not attempt to predict market trends, nor will it engage in active trading stETH in order to avoid losses.

There are still some operational details that have not been completed in the original registration documents, including the proposed exchange code and the designated custodian.

Therefore, when VanEck decided to abandon the issuance of this plan, the fund was still in the registration process.

Lido once welcomed the original ETF application from VanEck.

Before VanEck withdrew its application, the Lido ecosystem had expressed support for this proposed investment product.

In October 2025, Lido Ecosystem Foundation welcomed the initial applications from ETF, stating that this proposal has the potential to bring liquid collateral exposures into traditional investment markets.

The person in charge of institutional relations at the foundation, Kean Gilbert, stated that this application indicates an increasing interest in collateral products that can meet institutional investment requirements from the market.

He stated that liquidity staking is an important component of the Ethereum infrastructure and pointed out that Lido has already played a significant role in providing staking services.

At that time, Lido indicated that since its launch, users have earned over $2 billion in staking rewards through its protocol.

In a statement in October 2025, the organization stated that the total locked-up value in the agreement was close to $40 billion. This figure reflects the situation at that time, not the current valuation.

Previously, the VanEck and Lido applications related to the pledging of Ethereum stemmed from the company's proposed trust registration in October.

After the registration of VanEck in the trust, there was a round of price increase for Lido. The governance tokens of LDO rose by about 7%, and trading activity also increased after the initial announcement.

However, LDO and stETH have different uses. LDO is the governance token of the Lido protocol, while stETH represents Ethereum that is deposited into the staking system.

VanEck The proposed fund was supposed to hold stETH, not LDO.

The document withdrawn on October 14th did not provide any market data, nor did it explain whether this decision was related to the price performance of any particular token.

SEC The rules for the nature of margin trading have been clearly defined previously.

This abandoned ETF proposal emerged following regulatory guidelines issued by the United States regarding certain cryptocurrency staking activities.

In August 2025, the finance department of SEC company issued a statement from its staff, examining whether certain liquid collateral arrangements involved securities trading.

The guidance explains that certain activities involving the deposit of crypto assets and the issuance of pledged receipt tokens may not fall under the scope of federal securities registration requirements due to their structure.

SEC Staff distinguished between pledge services of an administrative nature and arrangements that involve managerial or entrepreneurial efforts and may constitute investment contracts.

This statement does not grant comprehensive approval to all types of liquid collateral products, nor does it automatically authorize the holding of pledged tokens by ETF.

As previously reported regarding the guidelines for trading SEC, the stance of the staff is only applicable to arrangements that meet specific conditions.

The prospectus for October 2025 discussed this guideline, and it was stated that the sponsors believed that their proposed staking activities were in line with the explanations provided by the staff of SEC.

The prospectus also acknowledges that different regulatory interpretations may pose legal risks to the proposed fund and its service providers.

During the same period, VanEck was also promoting other investment products related to staking.

In August 2025, the company submitted a proposed ETF registration statement related to JitoSOL. JitoSOL is a fluid nature collateral token associated with the Solana network.

An earlier VanEck JitoSOL ETF application sought to obtain exposure to the already pledged Solana through traditional investment structures.

The withdrawal on October 14th only involved the registration application for Lido Staked Ethereum ETF. The document did not require the withdrawal of applications for other cryptocurrency funds, such as VanEck.

The original application can still be identified through the registration number 333-290918. The regulatory authorities have withdrawn this registration statement and its amendments in accordance with Article 477, confirming that the securities issuance mentioned in the plan never took effect.