Rex-Osprey Submits Filing to List BNB Staking ETF

REX Shares and Osprey Funds have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list a BNB staking exchange-traded fund, according to an N-1A form submitted yesterday.

The fund, which would be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange, will seek to “stake all its Reference Asset [BNB] holdings,” although the filing also states that “no more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets” will be “illiquid.”

It notes that the current unbonding period for staked BNB is seven days, with REX Advisers adding that it therefore expects that “a significant amount of the Fund’s assets” will ultimately be staked.

In addition to direct staking, the REX-Osprey BNB + Staking ETF will also seek staking rewards by investing in liquid staking protocols, which the filing describes as providing liquid staking tokens that offer “the benefits of staking without the illiquidity.”

The fund will provide “regular staking compensation payouts,” either via an increase in the conversion rate of liquid staking tokens, or via a simple increase in the balance of  said tokens.

Anchorage Digital Bank National Association will serve as the custodian of the fund’s digital assets, while U.S. Bank will be the custodian for any more traditional holdings.

The filing also describes how the ETF will invest “a majority of its assets” in BNB, and that at least 40% of its assets will be invested in other ETFs (or ETPs) that invest either directly or indirectly in BNB.

Only two such external funds are named in the document: the 21Shares Binance BNB  ETP, which is listed in Switzerland, and the REX-Osprey Binance BNB ETP, which has yet to launch.

REX Shares and Osprey Funds previously  listed their Rex-Osprey Solana + Staking ETF in early July, becoming the first staking fund in the United States.

Unlike spot-based Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, approval of the Solana staking ETF was secured under the Investment Company Act, something which the BNB staking ETF is also seeking to achieve.

Early trading of the Solana + Staking ETF may have undershot expectations.  But REX Shares reported in a recent press release announcing the  the debut of options for the fund  that it now accounts for over $150 million in assets under management.

The BNB + Staking ETF follows a similar application from VanEck, which in May became the first applicant in the U.S. for a BNB ETF.

VanEck’s ETF would also include a staking component, although the firm’s SEC filing separates the latter from the fund’s main activities, offering “no assurance” that staking regulatory approval will “ever be obtained.”