Progress on Solana ETFs

Several Solana-based exchanged-traded product filings were acknowledged Tuesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, marking progress for new altcoin financial instruments.

Cboe BZX Exchange filed proposed rule change forms to list and trade shares of spot Solana ETFs from would-be issuers 21Shares, Bitwise, Canary Capital, and VanEck. The process mirrors previous efforts to launch spot bitcoin ETFs.

These recent filings follow Cboe BZX Exchange’s submission last month for firms wishing to issue spot Solana ETFs, after previous rejection of the firms’ applications.

With a pro-crypto U.S. government seemingly in place since President Donald Trump’s administration, momentum for potential altcoin ETFs is increasing. Analysts expect that ETFs tracking XRP, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Solana may gain approval. Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have assessed the likelihood of Solana ETFs being approved by the SEC at 70%.

Additionally, Franklin Templeton appears ready to delve into the Solana ETF sector, having filed documents in Delaware to register the Franklin Solana Trust.

Last week, the SEC began soliciting public comments on a proposal to list and trade the Grayscale Solana Trust, anticipated for conversion into an ETF, similar to the approach taken with Grayscale’s bitcoin trust last year.

However, one challenge for SOL-based ETFs lies in debates over classifying the cryptocurrency as a commodity or security. Although the new regulatory leadership seems more open-minded, the SEC may treat Solana differently than Bitcoin and Ethereum.