Grayscale Becomes First to Add Staking to Spot Ether ETFs

Hi! In today’s edition:

• 🪙 Grayscale enables staking in its Ethereum ETFs

• 🧠 Activist investor proposes revamp of Polygon’s POL tokenomics

• 📈 PLUME token jumps after SEC approves platform as transfer agent

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Grayscale Enables Staking in Spot Ether ETFs

Grayscale Investments has become the first U.S. asset manager to enable staking in its ether-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In a Monday announcement, Grayscale said staking would be a feature in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) and the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH).

The firm also enabled staking in its Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL), which is yet to receive U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval to list as a spot crypto ETF.

Previously, concerns over U.S. securities laws prevented staking from being included in ETF structures, but changes in oversight have now made such integration possible.

“Thanks to new regulatory guidance, investors can now benefit from the value accrual of staking. No action needed, no change to exposure,” said Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg on X. 

The update means that holders of ETHE and ETH can now passively earn rewards tied to Ethereum’s proof-of-stake protocol, without the need to directly manage wallets, run validator nodes, or handle technical complexities.

Activist Investor Calls for Major POL Tokenomics Revision

Pseudonymous self-described activist investor Venturefounder has proposed changes to Polygon’s native POL token’s mechanics in an effort to improve its market position. 

The proposal calls for eliminating the 2% annual inflation schedule and setting up a buyback and burn policy for POL, funded by the Polygon Treasury surplus or ecosystem revenues.

“Since 2022, the POL/MATIC token has severely underperformed relative to peers and the broader crypto market,” said Venturefounder.

“Despite significant ecosystem development and innovation, token price has dropped over 90% from all-time highs and 46% year-over-year, underperforming virtually every comparable layer 2 or ecosystem token.”

So far, the proposal has been met with a mostly positive response from the wider token holder community and key members of Polygon’s governance forum.

Governance delegate H_Rook noted that it was “certainly a topic worth discussing” but raised questions around how to fund validator rewards sustainably without inflation and the impact on network security.

PLUME Token Jumps 30% After SEC Approves Platform as Transfer Agent 

Plume has been approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a registered transfer agent for tokenized securities, marking a significant milestone in bringing traditional financial infrastructure onchain.

After the news, the PLUME token surged by as much as 30%, jumping from $0.1022 to a peak of $0.1342 before settling around $0.12 as of late Monday evening.

The registered transfer agent status means that Plume will be authorized to manage shareholder records, trades, and dividends directly on blockchain networks while linking their reporting to federal systems such as the SEC and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).

Plume already supports over 200,000 real-world asset holders and more than $62 million in tokenized assets via its Nest platform. It now aims to accelerate onboarding, fund administration, and compliant capital raises for institutional participants.

• 📈 U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs drew $1.18 billion of inflows on Monday — their second-biggest day ever — as Bitcoin surged past $126,000, pushing October’s total inflows to $3.47 billion and bringing BlackRock’s IBIT ETF close to the $100 billion assets milestone in record time.

• 🇮🇳 India announced it would launch a Reserve Bank of India–backed digital currency to streamline payments and reduce paper use while heavily taxing unbacked private cryptocurrencies to discourage their spread without banning them outright.

• 🔒 Privacy protocol Railgun developed a prototype for a private multi-signature wallet on Ethereum using zero-knowledge proofs, answering Vitalik Buterin’s call for stronger privacy tools while tackling a problem that has stumped other developers for years.

• 🟠🎲 Prediction market Polymarket added bitcoin deposits as a funding option, expanding beyond its existing support for Ethereum, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum and Solana to attract more users to its event-betting platform.

• 💵 Tether, which owns a 10.7% stake in Juventus, reportedly plans to propose new board members and governance reforms at the Italian football club’s November shareholder meeting while contributing $129 million as part of a capital increase.

• ⚽ Switzerland’s gambling watchdog launched a preliminary investigation into FIFA’s 2026 World Cup blockchain ticketing system to assess whether the collectible tokens sold to fans resemble gambling and comply with local laws.

• 🏦 Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee advised that investors aiming for “opportunistic growth” could allocate up to 4% of their portfolios to cryptocurrency, putting it ahead of BlackRock and Fidelity’s recommendations but below Grayscale’s and VanEck’s.

• 🧱 China Financial Leasing Group announced it would raise about $11 million via a stock offering to build a crypto and AI-focused investment platform, as Hong Kong continues encouraging digital asset development through regulation.

• 📊 Ondo Finance finalized its acquisition of regulated broker Oasis Pro to strengthen its U.S. presence in the tokenized securities market, expanding access to crypto-backed stocks and ETFs for global investors.

• 🦾📈 Ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies expanded its crypto holdings to $13 billion after buying another $823 million in ETH last week, cementing its position as the world’s largest ETH holder and second-largest crypto treasury overall.

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