Rex-Osprey Files for Approval to List BNB Staking ETF

REX Shares and Osprey Funds filed the necessary documentation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to establish a BNB staking exchange-traded fund, based on an N-1A form submitted recently.

This fund aims to “stake all its Reference Asset [BNB] holdings,” although the documentation states that “no more than 15% of the Fund’s net assets” can be “illiquid.”

It highlights that the current unbonding period for staked BNB is seven days, with REX Advisers predicting that “a significant portion of the Fund’s assets” will eventually be staked.

Apart from direct staking, the REX-Osprey BNB + Staking ETF plans to obtain staking rewards by investing in liquid staking protocols, as the documentation notes these provide liquid staking tokens, enabling “the perks of staking without the illiquidity.”

The fund will offer “regular staking compensation payouts,” either through an increase in the conversion rate of liquid staking tokens or by simply boosting the balance of those tokens.

The digital assets will be custodied by Anchorage Digital Bank National Association, while U.S. Bank will manage any traditional holdings.

The filing also states that the ETF will invest “a majority of its assets” in BNB, with at least 40% allocated to other ETFs (or ETPs) that invest either directly or indirectly in BNB.

Only two external funds are mentioned in the document: the 21Shares Binance BNB ETP listed in Switzerland and the yet-to-launch REX-Osprey Binance BNB ETP.

Previously, REX Shares and Osprey Funds listed their Rex-Osprey Solana + Staking ETF in early July, establishing themselves as the first staking fund in the U.S.

In contrast to Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs that are spot-based, the Solana staking ETF gained approval under the Investment Company Act, which the BNB staking ETF is also pursuing.

Initial trading of the Solana + Staking ETF may have fallen short of projections. However, REX Shares recently announced in a press release that it now manages over $150 million in assets.

The BNB + Staking ETF follows a similar application made by VanEck, which in May became the first in the U.S. to propose a BNB ETF.

VanEck’s ETF is also expected to include a staking element, though their SEC filing differentiates this from the primary activities of the fund, offering “no assurance” that staking regulatory approval will be obtained.