The SEC has delayed its decision on whether to allow staking for Grayscale’s proposed Ethereum spot ETFs.
The ETFs in question—Grayscale Ethereum Trust and Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF—were filed by NYSE Arca on February 14, 2025. The filing included a rule change request to enable staking as part of their investment strategy.
SEC Pushes Back Grayscale Ethereum ETF Staking Deadline July
The SEC deadline for deciding on the original proposal was set to conclude on April 17. Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the SEC is authorized to extend this review period for up to 90 days.
The agency has now exercised that option. This now allows the SEC to decide on this filing by July 2025.
Staking would allow the ETFs to earn rewards by participating in Ethereum’s proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, a feature not yet approved for any US spot crypto ETF.
Grayscale has proposed that staking be conducted exclusively by the sponsor without commingling funds. Also, Coinbase Custody would continue safeguarding the ETH assets.
The SEC’s delay is part of a broader pattern of cautious regulatory scrutiny over crypto ETF innovations, including similar filings from other asset managers.
Tether just released its Q1 2025 Attestation Report, describing a massive increase in US Treasury bond holdings. The firm purchased over $65 billion in these assets between January 1 and the end of the quarter.
Tether’s report also repeatedly mentioned a potential role in global US dollar flows, calling USDT “the leading digital representation” of this currency. The firm’s treasury holdings now represent more than 80% of its total assets.
An entire quarter has since passed, and the firm’s newest report details a massive pattern of acquisitions. By March 31, it held $98.5 billion in Treasury bonds, with another $21.3 billion in indirect exposure.
The company’s report further claims that its total assets amount to $149.2 billion. In other words, more than 80% of Tether’s assets are directly and indirectly held in US Treasury bonds.
Rumors suggested that the firm would de-prioritize Bitcoin to better align with US stablecoin regulations, and this event may be taking place. If proposed legislation becomes law, the US will require Tether to hold most of its reserve assets in Treasury bonds. Thanks to these acquisitions, that requirement has been fulfilled.
The report repeatedly mentioned concepts like “Tether’s growing role in distributing dollar-denominated liquidity” and “supporting the global relevance of the US dollar in a rapidly evolving economy.”
The firm described USDT as “the leading digital representation of the US dollar,” and its CEO, Paolo Ardoino, echoed these sentiments:
“Our mission is clear: to responsibly and compliantly power the digital economy and strengthen the role of the US dollar on the global stage,” he claimed.
If Tether wants to take on this transformative role, its massive US Treasury holdings will substantially help that task. Its holdings are vastly larger than most governments’, to the extent that it could move the global treasury market.
Overall, these purchases will likely drive Tether’s substantial business ventures in the US market soon.
Arizona’s State Legislature just passed Bitcoin reserve bills SB1025 and SB1373. They now approach the final hurdle: the governor’s approval to become law.
Both bills won by comfortable margins and will only require the governor’s signature to become law. Governor Katie Hobbs recently ended a vow to veto all bills over a funding dispute, hopefully securing the Reserve’s future.
“Arizona passes second Bitcoin Reserve bill. SB 1373 passed 37-19! Both Reserve bills to Governor Hobbs’ desk for signature,” a crypto-related policy watchdog claimed.
According to SB1025’s text, it will enable Arizona to spend up to 10% of its public funds on Bitcoin or other unspecified digital assets. This funding requirement mirrors South Carolina’s bill, which also mandated a 10% maximum.
Now that SB1025 has passed a third reading, Governor Hobbs is the only thing separating Arizona from a Bitcoin Reserve.
Recently, she has been vetoing all proposed legislation in a bid to secure funding for Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities. Less than a week ago, she ended this standoff, hopefully allowing her to sign these bills into law.
Arizona’s spending cap may deflate some Bitcoin enthusiasts’ hopes, but it’s still a victory. Amidst the microeconomic challenges, it’s a win for the industry if state-level acquisitions of any size pass.
ARIZONA JUST BECAME THE FIRST STATE IN THE NATION TO PASS STRATEGIC BITCOIN RESERVE LEGISLATION IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Strategic Crypto Reserve intends to preserve an existing stockpile but doesn’t acquire BTC. Nonetheless, it’s a bullish development that helped build market enthusiasm.
If Arizona does pass the bill, it will likely increase Bitcoin’s demand and drive more bullish optimism. New Hampshire and Texas are also trailing Arizona’s lead, as both states are awaiting a Senate vote on their bills.
The crypto market has entered the fifth month of 2025, yet retail investors have not seen much improvement in their portfolios. Meanwhile, what directions are venture capital (VC) firms taking amid the 2025 market landscape?
The answer to this question could serve as valuable insight for individual investors.
What Sectors are Attracting VC Attention for the Remainder of 2025?
Andy, the host of The Rollup Co., shared key highlights from his conversations with top venture capitalists. These insights reveal the sectors that are drawing strong interest.
According to Andy, the first area of focus is stablecoins.
“Stablecoin issuers are very investable & will likely 10x in quantity,” Andy revealed.
CoinMarketCap lists over 200 stablecoins, while CoinGecko tracks more than 300. Data from Token Terminal shows that the stablecoin market cap has surpassed $225 billion, issued by over 50 entities. However, Tether and Circle still dominate most of that market cap.
Stablecoin Capitalization by Issuer. Source: Token Terminal
If this prediction holds, the number of stablecoin issuers could increase by hundreds. This would open new investment opportunities for individuals through airdrops, stablecoin yields, and DeFi protocols.
VCs also find AI an interesting sector. However, they recognize a gap in how AI applications are developed in Web2 versus Web3.
“The AI sector is interesting but better builders in Web2, for now,” Andy added.
Recent reports from BeInCrypto show that the number of AI agents is growing at an average monthly rate of 33%. Yet, Web3-based AI solutions account for just 3% of the total AI agent ecosystem. These figures align with VCs’ observations. Web3 AI may need more time to prove itself with practical and efficient use cases.
Anthony, founder of blockchain121, also commented on a trend where decentralized AI projects now attract top-tier talent from the Web2 AI space.
“Legit DeAI projects really are, for the first time, attracting legit world-class engineers and researchers from Web2 AI,” Anthony said.
In addition, Andy revealed that VCs have a particularly strong focus on real-world assets (RWAs).
“RWAs, RWAs, RWAs are all that matter,” Andy emphasized.
BeInCrypto reported that the market cap of RWAs surpassed $20 billion in April. At the time of writing, the RWA.xyz platform shows the current market cap at $18.9 billion.
The involvement of major financial institutions like BlackRock and Fidelity has boosted investor confidence in the sector’s long-term potential. Tren.finance even predicts that RWA market capitalization could reach over $10 trillion by 2030.
Finally, in addition to stablecoins and RWAs, Andy mentioned that Bitcoin liquidity markets are also of interest to VCs.
VCs Suffer Losses in 2025 Amid Market Decline
As the market cap has dropped significantly, VCs haven’t been immune to losses in 2025. Unpredictable macroeconomic policies like tariffs have added pressure, triggering a harsh shakeout.
“Crypto VCs are getting their margins squeezed as of recent. Many will not return their LPs positive returns. Others are having trouble raising new funds, especially in the post-tariff world. A lot of the tokens they invested into over the last two years haven’t launched or are beaten down badly. OTC markets are much drier than before. There will be an exodus at some point. The strong will survive,” Andy disclosed.
According to CryptoRank, crypto VC funding reached $4.8 billion in Q1 2025—the highest since Q3 2022. This was largely driven by major deals such as MGX and Kraken. In April alone, VC funding hit $2.3 billion across 87 investment rounds.
Overall, VCs remain cautiously optimistic despite the pressure from investor withdrawals and macroeconomic headwinds since early 2025. This optimism is reflected in the increase in funding volume and deal flow compared to 2023–2024.
