ARK Invest and 21Shares have revised their proposal for a spot Ether exchange-traded fund, removing plans for staking. Initially, they intended to stake a portion of the fund's assets but have now removed that clause from their latest filing.

This change comes amidst speculation about potential feedback from the SEC, with Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas suggesting it could be a strategic move to refine the application or limit information available for SEC consideration.

The proposal aims to provide direct exposure to Ether and, if approved, will trade on the Cboe BZX Exchange, using the CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate. The SEC has been delaying decisions on various spot Ethereum ETF proposals, with upcoming deadlines for VanEck's and ARK/21Shares' applications.

Despite the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, optimism for spot Ethereum ETFs has waned, with Balchunas revising his approval estimate to 25%.