Ether treasury companies may need to adopt liquid staking and other active yield strategies to offer investors returns beyond the passive staking rewards available through listed Ether products, according to Kean Gilbert, head of institutional relations at Lido Finance. Speaking at ETHCC 2026, Gilbert emphasized that strategies like using ETH as collateral for borrowing could help treasury firms generate higher yields than standard staking products.
Liquid staking allows ETH holders to stake their tokens while receiving a transferable token that can be used elsewhere in decentralized finance (DeFi). This flexibility is seen as a key advantage for active treasury management. The competitive landscape now includes several US-listed staked ETH products, such as the REX-Osprey ETH + Staking ETF (launched September 2025), Grayscale's Ethereum Staking ETF and Ethereum Staking Mini ETF, and BlackRock's iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF (introduced March 12, 2026).
Public disclosures reveal varying staking economics across these products, making direct yield comparisons challenging. As of early April 2026, Grayscale's ETHE page showed net staking rewards of 2.26%, while its ETH page displayed 2.56%. Native ETH staking was yielding approximately 2.72% annually, according to Staking Rewards.
Jimmy Xue, co-founder and COO of quantitative yield platform Axis, offered a counterpoint, stating that Ether treasury companies don't necessarily need to beat staked ETF yields on headline numbers. "A staked ETH ETF is a passive vehicle," Xue explained. "A DAT trading at a meaningful mNAV premium is promising something a passive ETF structurally cannot deliver, which is active, dynamic deployment of spot inventory across opportunities as they arise." He added that the premium investors pay reflects confidence in management's ability to generate yield, with basis trading being a major source.
Evidence of liquid staking adoption is already visible in corporate filings. Sharplink Gaming, the second-largest corporate Ether holder, reported generating 14,516 ETH (around $30.8 million) in staking rewards as of March 2026, with 33% derived from liquid staking and 66% from native staking. The company also reported a $734 million net loss for 2025, largely due to the crypto market downturn. Similarly, BTCS Inc., the 10th-largest Ether treasury company by returns, has liquid staked 4,160 ETH ($8.8 million) of its 29,122 ETH holdings through the Rocket Pool protocol, according to a July 2025 SEC filing.
Concurrently, Grayscale's activation of staking for its ETHE fund in October 2025—making it the first U.S. Ethereum ETP to distribute staking rewards—is seen as a structural shift. Analysts suggest that embedding staking yield within a regulated ETF creates a demand floor that pure spot exposure lacks, potentially serving as a slow-burn catalyst for Ethereum's price. Some price projections suggest ETH could target $3,200 and eventually $5,700 if ETF inflows accelerate on the staking yield narrative, representing a 180% jump from current levels near $2,000.
