Grayscale, a leading US digital asset management firm, announced on January 5th a rare event in the crypto asset space — its Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) completed its first staking reward distribution. Each share received a cash dividend of $0.083178, credited to all shareholders holding the fund on the record date.

Seems not much? But the significance behind it is quite substantial. This is the first time in the history of US spot cryptocurrency ETP products that actual on-chain staking rewards have been directly distributed to investors. In other words, the real earnings generated by the Ethereum network’s operation have been converted into cash dividends that investors can securely pocket, thanks to Grayscale’s product design.

Where does this dividend come from? From staking reward income accumulated through Ethereum network staking activities between October 6, 2025, and December 31, 2025. Grayscale converted the on-chain Ethereum rewards into fiat currency and distributed it accordingly. By January 6th, all eligible investors had received their share.

This move has an interesting implication — it fundamentally changes the positioning of crypto assets from a traditional financial perspective. Previously, people only regarded crypto assets as “holdings,” but now products like ETHE turn them into genuine “interest-earning assets.” Retail investors don’t need to worry about private key management or deeply participate in on-chain operations to enjoy passive income from blockchain protocols. This also explains why Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg emphasized that the staking reward distribution marks a major evolution in ETP product structure — a complete shift from simply holding coins to “on-chain rent collection.”