Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States may be able to start staking a portion of their tokens as soon as May, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart. 

On April 9, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) authorized exchanges to begin listing options contracts tied to spot Ether (ETH) ETFs after greenlighting Bitcoin (BTC) ETF options in September. However, issuers are still waiting for the regulator to allow Ether ETFs to offer staking after filing numerous requests for permission earlier this year.

Source: James Seyffart

The approval of options contracts could represent a key step toward regulatory approval for staking services in the United States. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said on April 9 that clearance for staking on ETH funds could come as early as May but would likely take until the end of 2025.

“It’s possible they could be approved for staking early, but the final deadline is at the end of October,” Seyffart said in a post on the X platform. “Potential intermediate deadlines before the final approval (or denial) are in late May & late August.”

Options are financial derivatives that give investors the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price before a certain date. Staking, on the other hand, involves locking up a cryptocurrency, like ETH, to support network operations — such as validating transactions — in exchange for rewards.

In ETH funds, options contracts allow investors to hedge or speculate on the tokens’ prices, while staking offers a way to earn rewards by participating in Ethereum’s proof-of-stake network.

Ether ETF inflows. Source: Farside Investors

Related: SEC approves options on spot Ether ETFs

Progress toward adoption

Ether ETFs launched in June 2024 but struggled to attract significant investor interest. According to data from Farside Investors, the funds have seen net inflows of $2.4 billion as of April 10, compared to $35 billion for Bitcoin ETFs introduced in January. Analysts say the SEC’s approval of Ether ETF options could help spur adoption.

Asset managers are also waiting on the SEC to greenlight requests to allow in-kind creations and redemptions for Bitcoin and Ether ETFs.

The emergence of options markets tied to spot crypto ETFs is a “monumental advancement” in crypto markets and creates “extremely compelling opportunities” for investors,” Jeff Park, Bitwise Invest’s head of alpha strategies, said in a Sept. 20 X post. 

But staking could be the most significant step forward for Ether funds. 

In March, Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock’s head of digital assets, said Ether ETFs are “less perfect” without staking. “A staking yield is a meaningful part of how you can generate investment return in this space.”

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Users of the Atomic and Exodus wallets are being targeted by threat actors uploading malicious software packages to online coding repositories to steal crypto private keys in the latest cybersecurity threat identified by security professionals. 

According to cybersecurity researchers at ReversingLabs, the exploit works by hiding malicious code in seemingly legitimate npm software packages, which are pre-built bundles of code widely used by software developers.

These malicious software packages target locally installed Atomic Wallet and Exodus Wallet files by installing a patch that overwrites the files to compromise the user interface and fool the unsuspecting victim into sending crypto to scam addresses.

Software supply chain attacks are an emerging threat vector targeting crypto holders as the industry continues to play a cat-and-mouse game with hackers attempting to steal user funds using increasingly sophisticated methods to avoid detection.

The malicious code contained in the pdf-to-office package. Source: ReversingLabs

Related: $2B lost to crypto hacks in Q1 2025, $1.63B from access control flaws

Hackers target crypto community in increasingly sophisticated attacks

According to cybersecurity firm Hacken, crypto hacks and exploits cost the industry roughly $2 billion in losses during Q1 2025, most of which came from the $1.4 billion Bybit hack in February.

The SafeWallet developer released a post-mortem update in March 2025 outlining a forensic analysis of the single biggest hack in crypto history.

SafeWallet’s analysis ultimately found that a Safe developer’s computer was compromised by hackers who hijacked the developer’s Amazon Web Services session tokens to access the firm’s development environment and set up the Bybit attack.

Jameson Lopp, a cypherpunk and chief security officer at Bitcoin (BTC) custody company Casa, recently sounded the alarm on BTC address poisoning attacks.

A breakdown of the losses caused by crypto hacks and exploits in Q1 2025. Source: Hacken

Address poisoning attacks target victims by generating destination addresses that match the first four and the last four characters of an address from the victim’s transaction history.

The threat actor then sends a transaction from the malicious address for a small amount, typically below one dollar, to the target so that the address will show up in a victim’s transaction history.

If the victim is not paying attention by carefully examining the entire address, they may mistakenly send funds to the malicious address, which closely resembles the destination.

Cybersecurity firm Cyvers estimates that address poisoning attacks were responsible for $1.2 million in stolen funds in March 2025 alone.

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Digital payments company Block Inc. has reached a $40 million settlement with New York regulators over alleged compliance misconducts tied to its Cash App platform, Bloomberg reported on April 10.

Block was fined by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) following an investigation into Cash App’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and cryptocurrency compliance operations, Bloomberg said after reviewing the government agency’s consent order. 

NYDFS determined that Block allegedly violated consumer protection laws and didn’t conduct proper due diligence on its customers. The company was allegedly too slow in reporting suspicious transactions to regulators and failed to adequately screen so-called “high-risk” Bitcoin (BTC) transactions. 

Block confirmed that it had worked with NYDFS to “resolve the matter principally related to Cash App’s past compliance program.” However, it did not admit to any wrongdoing, according to Bloomberg. 

Block, which was founded by internet entrepreneur and Bitcoin advocate Jack Dorsey in 2009, had been negotiating a settlement with the NYDFS since last year, based on filings submitted with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Excerpts of Block Inc.’s February Form 10K filing with the SEC. Source: SEC

The NYDFS settlement isn’t the first monetary penalty Block has agreed to pay this year. As Cointelegraph reported, the company paid $80 million in fines to several state regulators over alleged violations tied to its AML program.

Related: NYDFS chief’s advice for crypto firms: ‘Never surprise your regulator’

Block remains in growth mode

Despite getting caught in regulatory crosshairs, Block’s underlying business remained strong at the end of 2024. Companywide revenues increased by roughly 4.5% year-over-year to $6.03 billion as per-share earnings climbed 51% to $0.71. 

The other positive takeaway was that Block’s merchant gross payment volume, or the total amount of money processed through its systems, increased by 10% to $61.95 billion. 

Cash App continues to be a source of growth, with the unit recording $1.38 billion in gross profit in the fourth quarter. 

The mobile payment service had more than 57 million monthly transacting users in early 2024. 

Despite reporting strong growth, Block Inc.’s (XYZ) share price has fallen more than 37% this year as part of a marketwide sell-off. Source: Yahoo Finance

Cash App users have been able to buy Bitcoin through the platform since at least 2018. In 2023, Cash App integrated crypto accounting software TaxBit, giving users an easier way to track and report their crypto-related taxes. 

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