Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stock holder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
The Shares commenced trading on NYSE Arca on July 23, 2024 under the ticker symbol “ETHE.”
Holders of Record
As of December 31, 2025, there were approximately 16 DTC participating shareholders of record of the Trust. Because most of the Trust’s Shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of shareholders represented by these record holders.
Dividends
The Trust made no distributions to shareholders during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024. The Trust has no obligation to make periodic distributions to shareholders.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Shares
Prior to the Uplisting Date, the Registrant had distributed 310,158,500 Shares at varying prices determined by reference to the NAV per Share to selected “accredited investors,” within the meaning of Rule 501 of Regulation D under the Securities Act. The Shares were sold in connection with an ongoing offering pursuant to Rule 506(c) of Regulation D under the Securities Act. Genesis acted as the Authorized Participant with respect to these distributions. In exchange for these sales, the Trust received an aggregate of 3,240,485.90155110 Ether. During the year ended December 31, 2025, the Registrant did not distribute any Shares under 506(c) of Regulation D under the Securities Act. Because Shares have been, and continue to be, created and issued on a periodic basis, a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act, may be occurring from time to time. As a result, an Authorized Participant facilitating the creation of Shares and acting as a distributor and marketer during any such period may be deemed an “underwriter” under Section 2(a)(11) of the Securities Act. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid to an Authorized Participant with respect to such sales.
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Purchases of Equity Securities
Purchases of equity securities by the issuer and affiliated purchasers —The table below sets forth information regarding open market purchases of Shares of Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF (NYSE Arca: ETHE) by DCG, the indirect parent company of the Sponsor, on a monthly basis during the three months ended December 31, 2025:
Period
(a) Total Number of Shares of ETHE Purchased
(b) Average Price Paid per Share of ETHE
(c) Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs (1)
(d) Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (1)
(in millions)
October 1, 2025 - October 31, 2025
-
$
-
-
$
200.0
November 1, 2025 - November 30, 2025
-
-
-
200.0
December 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025
-
-
-
200.0
Total
-
$
-
-
$
200.0
(1) On March 2, 2022, the Board approved the purchase by DCG, the indirect parent company of the Sponsor, of up to an aggregate total of $200 million worth of Shares of the Trust and shares of any of the following five investment products the Sponsor also acts as the sponsor and manager of, including Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF (NYSE Arca: GBTC), Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust (BCH) (OTCQX: BCHG), Grayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF (NYSE Arca: GDLC), Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust (XLM) (OTCQX: GXLM), and Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETC) (OTCQX: ETCG). Subsequently, DCG authorized such purchase. The Share purchase authorization does not obligate DCG to acquire any specific number of Shares in any period, and may be expanded, extended, modified, or discontinued at any time. As of the date of this Annual Report, DCG had not purchased any Shares of the Trust under this authorization.
Although the Trust does not purchase Shares directly from its shareholders, in connection with its redemption of Baskets from Authorized Participants during the three months ended December 31, 2025, the Trust redeemed the following Shares:
Period
Total Number of Shares of ETHE Redeemed
Average Price Paid per Share of ETHE (1)
October 1, 2025 - October 31, 2025
6,910,000
$
32.52
November 1, 2025 - November 30, 2025
8,790,000
26.34
December 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025
10,790,000
24.35
Total
26,490,000
$
27.14
(1) The Price Paid per Share is based on the NAV per Share, which is derived from the Index Price as represented by the Index as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, on the valuation date. The Trust’s NAV per Share is calculated using a non-GAAP methodology where the price is derived from multiple Digital Asset Trading Platforms.
Item 6. [ R e served]
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Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.