Grayscale to Launch Quarterly Cash Payouts for ETH and SOL ETFs

The move aligns ETHE and GSOL with IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-31, which provides guidelines for trusts to maintain grantor status while engaging in staking. By selling ETH and SOL rewards, Grayscale aims to create a transparent payout mechanism after deducting management fees and operating expenses. While the firm successfully distributed $9.39 million to ETHE shareholders in January 2026, these future payments lack a fixed yield or guaranteed schedule, as returns remain tied to validator performance and network conditions.

Beyond technical distribution, the structure carries specific tax implications for U.S. investors. Shareholders may be required to recognize income when the trust earns rewards, even if the cash payout occurs at a later date. This tax treatment, combined with potential capital gains or losses from the sale of staked assets, necessitates careful oversight by individual investors. Grayscale’s standardized quarterly approach will eventually allow for easier performance comparisons between its Ethereum and Solana products, mirroring similar moves by competitors like BlackRock. The company expects the final framework to be operational by early August, provided the trust amendments proceed as planned.