Staking ETFs, Ethereum Upgrades & $800M Liquidations: Crypto Market Shifts

REX Shares and Osprey Funds File With SEC to Offer Staking Ethereum and Solana ETFs

REX Shares and Osprey Funds have submitted filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch "staking ETFs" that track Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL), as reported by The Block. These funds are designed to provide holders with token rewards generated by staking, while also tracking the underlying assets. According to the SEC Form N-1A, each fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in its respective reference asset—ETH or SOL—and will stake at least 50% of its holdings in these cryptocurrencies.

Anchorage Digital, led by CEO Nathan McCauley, is providing custodial support for these funds. McCauley stated, "Staking is the next chapter in the crypto ETF story. The launch of crypto staking ETFs marks a win for consumers and a significant step forward in full access to the crypto ecosystem." The funds will operate as a "regular C corporation" for U.S. federal income tax purposes, differing from the "regulated investment company" structure used by spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Staking distributions to holders will be treated as dividend income.

Fund	Annual Operating Expenses	Minimum Staking Allocation
ETH Staking ETF	1.28%	50%
SOL Staking ETF	1.4%	50%

Despite the SEC's approval of other crypto-related ETFs, including spot Ethereum funds, it has been hesitant to approve products that allow issuers to stake their underlying holdings. However, industry advocates have been meeting with federal agents to clarify the regulatory situation around staking. The SEC has not yet approved a non-staking spot Solana ETF, though several applications are pending. The ETH and SOL staking ETFs, if approved, would be the first of their kind in the U.S. market.

REX Shares and Osprey Funds propose staking ETFs for ETH and SOL.
Funds will invest at least 80% in the reference asset and stake at least 50% of holdings.
Annual operating expenses: 1.28% (ETH), 1.4% (SOL).
Staking rewards treated as dividend income under C corporation structure.

Source: The Block

“Staking is the next chapter in the crypto ETF story. The launch of crypto staking ETFs marks a win for consumers and a significant step forward in full access to the crypto ecosystem.” — Nathan McCauley, CEO of Anchorage Digital

Infobox: REX Shares and Osprey Funds are pioneering staking ETFs for Ethereum and Solana, with at least 50% of holdings staked and annual expenses of 1.28% and 1.4%, respectively. The SEC has yet to approve these products.

Ethereum’s Pectra Update Meets Expectations, Edges Closer to Fusaka

According to a May 30 report by ethPandaOps, Ethereum’s Pectra hard fork has successfully doubled the default blob count from three to six and raised the ceiling from six to nine, as outlined in Ethereum Improvement Proposal 7691 (EIP-7691). The report, covered by CryptoSlate, monitored 123 Beacon-chain nodes across 27 countries and found that home-user nodes accepted locally built solo-staker blocks in under four seconds 99.5% of the time over 50,025 slots through May 28. Regression analysis suggests home nodes could handle up to 14 blobs before reaching the deadline, well above the current nine-blob cap.

The report also stress-tested the model with a 60 million-gas worst-case block size, finding a safe capacity of 10 blobs. About 91% of main-chain blocks are routed through MEV-Boost relays, which were slightly slower, with 97.1% of home nodes reaching the "New Head" event within four seconds. The report concluded that the 6/9 blob schedule is functioning as designed, allowing developers to focus on the upcoming Fusaka upgrade, which will introduce PeerDAS for improved data availability and potentially higher gas limits.

Pectra upgrade doubled default blob count to six, ceiling to nine.
Home-user nodes processed blocks in under four seconds 99.5% of the time.
Safe capacity for home nodes: up to 14 blobs; for relays: five blobs under worst-case conditions.
91% of blocks routed through MEV-Boost relays.
Developers are now focusing on the Fusaka upgrade and PeerDAS integration.

Source: CryptoSlate

Infobox: Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade is performing within expectations, with home-user nodes able to support the increased blob count. The network is now preparing for the Fusaka upgrade, which will further enhance data availability.

Analysts Say It’s Over For Ethereum L2: Solana Layer 2 Emerges After $42M ICO

99Bitcoins reports that Solaxy ($SOLX), the first-ever Solana Layer 2, has raised $42 million in its presale, with only 18 days left for early backers before the token moves to exchanges at a higher price. The current presale price is $0.001738 per token, with the price increasing every two days. Max Rebol, CEO of Harbour Industrial Capital, argues that Ethereum’s reliance on external Layer-2s fragments the ecosystem, while Solana’s approach with Solaxy is to enhance dependability and modularity without patching scaling problems.

Solaxy is designed to optimize transaction throughput and reduce fees using roll-up bundling and off-chain enhanced processing. Its testnet bridge, built with Hyperlane, is already live, enabling native SOL transfers between Solana Devnet and Solaxy Testnet. The mainnet bridge will unlock interoperability with Ethereum. Additionally, the Solaxy DEX, a native decentralized exchange, will serve as the trading hub for all tokens launched through Igniter, Solaxy’s no-code, rollup-native token launchpad. Staking for $SOLX tokens offers a dynamic 96% APY, adjusted in real time based on total pool participation.

Project	Funds Raised	Token Price (Presale)	Staking APY
Solaxy ($SOLX)	$42 million	$0.001738	96% (dynamic)

Solaxy ($SOLX) presale raised $42 million; 18 days left for early backers.
Token price: $0.001738, increasing every two days.
Solaxy DEX and Igniter launchpad to power the ecosystem.
Staking offers a dynamic 96% APY.

Source: 99Bitcoins

“Ethereum’s scaling model may be ‘doomed from the start,’ arguing that its reliance on external Layer-2s only fragments the ecosystem further.” — Max Rebol, CEO of Harbour Industrial Capital

Infobox: Solaxy, the first Solana Layer 2, has raised $42 million in its presale, offering a new approach to scalability and modularity, with a dynamic 96% APY for stakers and a growing ecosystem of tools.

Crypto Liquidations Spike Above $800 Million as Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum Fall

Decrypt reports that crypto liquidations have exceeded $800 million in the past 24 hours, with long positions accounting for $747 million of the total. Bitcoin was the largest source of liquidations at $222 million, followed by Ethereum at nearly $122 million. Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin also saw significant liquidations. The broader crypto market declined by 4.3% over the last day, with Dogecoin leading losses among the top 10 coins, dropping 9% to just below $0.20. Solana fell by nearly 5% to $160, XRP dropped 3.3% to $2.20, and Ethereum declined by 3% to $2,573. Bitcoin dipped by 1.3% to $104,730 after reaching a new all-time high of $111,814 just over a week ago.

Asset	Liquidations (24h)	Current Price	24h Change
Bitcoin	$222 million	$104,730	-1.3%
Ethereum	$122 million	$2,573	-3%
Solana	Not specified	$160	-5%
XRP	Not specified	$2.20	-3.3%
Dogecoin	Not specified	$0.20	-9%

Total liquidations: $827 million in 24 hours.
Long positions: $747 million.
Dogecoin experienced the largest drop among top 10 coins.
Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $111,814 last week.

Source: Decrypt

“We expect a temporary drop toward the $100K level before a broader move toward $130K-$150K, after which altcoins could take over.” — Valentin Fournier, BRN Lead Research Analyst

Infobox: Over $800 million in crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, with Bitcoin and Ethereum leading the losses as the market experienced a 4.3% decline.

Ethereum’s Sustained Rebound Is Mostly Thanks to Pectra

The Defiant reports that Ethereum has experienced a significant rebound, with its price increasing by more than 50% in three weeks following the Pectra upgrade. After months of stagnation at or below $2,000, ETH surged above this level just a day after the Pectra upgrade went live. On May 10, ETH broke above $2,500 and briefly surpassed $2,750 on May 29, marking a $1,000 increase from its pre-Pectra price on May 7.

Pectra, which included 11 improvement proposals, is the largest hard fork since Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake. Notable features include account abstraction, enabling wallets to function as smart contracts, sponsored transactions where third parties can pay gas fees, and alternative authentication methods. These changes have improved user experience and contributed to renewed optimism in the Ethereum community.

ETH price increased by over 50% in three weeks post-Pectra.
Pectra introduced 11 improvement proposals, including account abstraction.
ETH price rose from under $2,000 to over $2,750 between May 7 and May 29.

Source: The Defiant

Infobox: Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade has driven a 50% price rebound, introducing major improvements such as account abstraction and sponsored transactions, revitalizing the network and its community.

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