Fidelity’s two crypto exchange-traded products can now stake every last coin they hold. The paperwork that grants that authority also spends several paragraphs explaining what happens when the funds can’t get those coins back fast enough.
That’s the tension in the Aug. 21 prospectuses for the Fidelity Ethereum Fund, or FETH, and the Fidelity Solana Fund, or FSOL. Both documents use the same framework: stake up to 100% under normal conditions, then fall back through a layered set of options when network exits take too long.
The 100% number is a ceiling, not a status report
Neither fund carries a minimum staking requirement. Sponsor FD Funds Management can leave ether or SOL unstaked for foreseeable redemptions, expenses, asset protection and its liquidity program.
So the authority to stake everything doesn’t mean everything is staked. It means nothing is stopping them.
FSOL comes closest to the ceiling. Its June 30 report showed 1,675,797 SOL staked out of 1,687,589 SOL held, with a fair value of $126.3 million. The quarterly report put net assets at $127.079 million and the trailing 30-day staked percentage at 99.64%.
FETH was somewhere else entirely. Its June 30 report listed 476,311 ether and $758.609 million in net assets with no staked-ether line at all. Fidelity amended the trust and custody arrangements in August, and the new prospectus said staking was expected to begin as soon as practicable after Aug. 21. It didn’t disclose a current staked amount.
What happens when you want your crypto back
Reserves are the first buffer. If reserves fall short and unstaking can’t finish inside the standard settlement window, the sponsor may extend settlement temporarily.
If an exit still isn’t practicable within a reasonable extended period, the sponsor may deliver cash instead of some or all of the crypto owed in an in-kind redemption.
Read the filings closely and the language matters. These are described as discretionary options. Not automatic protections. Not tools that have already been used.
Two networks, two very different waiting rooms
The timing risk splits along network lines, and this is the part that should shape how you think about the two products differently.
FSOL expects to regain complete control of its staked SOL within two days under normal conditions. The prospectus doesn’t guarantee that result.
FETH gives no fixed duration whatsoever. Ethereum validators have to leave the active set and clear a mandatory wait before the network’s withdrawal sweep processes them. Heavy exit demand or network disruption can stretch either timeline.
The backstops that don’t exist yet
Fidelity also lists possible future backstops. A credit facility involving the sponsor or an affiliate. Direct borrowing of digital assets. Sales or transfers of validator positions. Structures involving liquid staking tokens or tradable rights to staked assets.
Neither trust had a line of credit as of Aug. 21. And several of these mechanisms depend on legal, tax or exchange-rule changes that haven’t happened.
Where the staking rewards actually go
Each trust pays aggregate staking fees equal to 15% of gross rewards and keeps the remaining 85%.
That retained share funds trust expenses, quarterly cash distributions, redemptions and additional staking, in that stated priority order. The sponsor can change the order.
Quarterly distributions would be paid in cash after the rewards are sold. Amount and timing aren’t guaranteed.
If you’re weighing these two, the June 30 numbers tell you which one is theoretical and which one is live. FSOL was already running at 99.64% staked with a two-day expected unwind. FETH had zero disclosed staking, an open-ended exit queue and a start date described only as “as soon as practicable.” Those are not the same product wearing different tickers.
