SSK: First Solana Staking ETF Inches Higher in Debut

An ETF launched Wednesday is the first to hold the Solana cryptocurrency and at the same time the first to offer so-called staking, the cryptocurrency’s validation mechanism which acts as a sort of yield device.

The REX-Osprey SOL + Staking ETF (SSK), jointly issued by Rex Shares and Osprey Funds, gained 0.7% shortly before noon in its first day of trading. The fund was launched with a single creation unit of $625,000, a spokesperson said.

The fund comes to market after the resolution of months of negotiations with U.S. regulators who questioned whether funds offering staking qualified as ETFs. The latest filing resolves those issues, referring to the fund as a C-corporation for tax purposes.

SSK Gets Approval

SSK was approved somewhat unconventionally, following the Trump administration’s embrace of cryptocurrencies and wide-open approach to permitting them in ETFs.  

The fund differs slightly from the spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs that were approved last year and aim to hold 100% of their namesake crypto. SSK aims for an 80% Solana allocation, with 50% of that staked. 

Furthermore, it follows a bending of a traditional point of view that investment companies must invest mainly in securities, since crypto issuers claim that tokens fall outside of that definition, according to published reports.

“It isn't a traditional '33 Act 'spot' ETF and wasn't 'approved' per se but rather there was no objection = ok to launch,” Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas wrote in an X post. 

The fund is the first spot crypto ETF formed under the Investment Company Act of 1940, Rex General Counsel said Greg Collett said through the company spokesperson. Besides primarily holding Solana directly, it will also aim for 40% in non-U.S. exchange-traded products that hold staked SOL, and a small amount of other tokens, Collett said through the spokesperson.

Solana & Staking

Staking offers participants rewards in exchange for locking up their crypto for a period.

Solana, the sixth-largest cryptocurrency according to CoinMarketCap, was created in 2017 and is a so-called proof-of-history cryptocurrency that, according to the filing, is faster than Bitcoin and Ethereum networks. While its price surged over the past year, it’s since tumbled and is currently trading where it was one year ago.

Nine other spot Solana ETF applications have been submitted to the SEC, according to Decrypt, along with applications for HBAR, Pengu, Litecoin, Dogecoin and others. A handful of Solana futures exchange-traded funds are currently trading.

Efforts are underway to persuade the Securities and Exchange Commission to permit staking in Ethereum ETFs. Bitcoin ETFs, such as Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), don’t permit staking. 

Rex and Osprey have also applied for an Ether staking ETF, the REX-Osprey ETH + Staking ETF (ESK).

Editor's note: Story has been updated to add first-day trading activity and company comment.