#Trump-related Platform Staking ETH#

Recently, World Liberty Finance (WLFI), a crypto platform associated with Donald Trump, deposited a total of 10,000 Ethereum (ETH), worth $33 million, into the liquid staking platform Lido Finance (LDO) for staking and earning rewards. This move has sparked hopes that regulators will soon allow spot ETH exchange-traded funds. Hester Pierce, a commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who currently leads the agency's cryptocurrency working group, stated during a Coinage interview last month that she was open to considering staking ETFs. Gary Gensler, the former SEC chairman, known for his anti-crypto stance, resigned on January 20 due to Trump's inauguration. Staking would enhance the appeal of investment products, enabling investors to generate consistent returns from their holdings and reduce product fees. According to SoSoValue data, US spot ETH ETFs hold $12 billion in assets. Potential regulatory approval could also shake up the price of ETH and neighboring ecosystem tokens such as Lido's LDO. The future of Ethereum has been under intense scrutiny lately, due to its price decline compared to competitors, leadership disputes, and concerns over the project's development roadmap. ETH's price against Bitcoin (BTC) recently reached its lowest point in 4 years, and has ceded market share of trading activity to fast-growing blockchains like Solana. Furthermore, recent inflows into Bitcoin ETFs have surged, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF seeing an influx of 6,208 BTC (approximately $648 million), bringing its total holdings to 569,343 BTC (about $59.4 billion). Ethereum ETFs witnessed a net inflow of 18,108 ETH (roughly $59.59 million), including 16,959 ETH (around $55.81 million) into BlackRock's iShares Ethereum ETF, resulting in a total value of approximately $3.87 billion. Bitwise Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (BITB) holds 42,650.19 BTC, with its market value exceeding $4.5 billion. Bitcoin options trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has shown the strongest bullish sentiment since Trump's election victory on November 5. Data indicates that option trading skew has risen to 4.4%, a new high since early November. These events suggest growing market interest in cryptocurrencies, particularly in Ethereum and Bitcoin. Potential approval of staking ETFs could further drive up the price of ETH and attract more investors to the crypto market.