SEC Solicits Comments on Grayscale Solana Trust ETF Proposal

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has initiated a public comment period regarding a proposal to list and trade the Grayscale Solana Trust as an exchange-traded product (ETF).

On Thursday, the SEC issued a notice recognizing a filing from NYSE Arca, which proposed to list and trade the Grayscale Solana Trust. This proposal follows NYSE Arca’s 19b-4 filing from last month, marking the second step in the two-step process for proposing a spot crypto ETF.

The SEC requires public comments on this proposal within 21 days of its publication in the Federal Register. Following this period, the SEC will decide to approve, disapprove, or potentially further evaluate the proposed rule change.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that the SEC’s acknowledgment of the Grayscale Solana 19b-4 is significant since the SEC previously rejected similar filings for Solana. Another Bloomberg analyst, Eric Balchunas, pointed out that this is the first time an ETF filing for a coin previously classified as a ‘security’ has been recognized by the SEC.

Balchunas also remarked on the shift in approach, indicating that just six weeks prior, the SEC had instructed CBOE to withdraw their Solana 19b-4 filing, suggesting that this could be a result of recent leadership changes within the SEC.

In addition to the Solana Trust, the SEC also announced a solicitation of comments on Grayscale’s Litecoin trust.

With a pro-crypto President Donald Trump now in office, some experts speculate that a spot Solana ETF could gain approval by the end of the year.

Last month, acting SEC chair Mark Uyeda launched a crypto task force led by Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce, aimed at establishing a more pragmatic regulatory framework for crypto assets.

The crypto task force recently stated that it will focus on determining which crypto assets can be classified as securities, which might change the registration processes for firms and clarify how exchange-traded products are approved or disapproved.