Cboe Files for Rules Change to List Solana ETFs
The applications set up a potential late March 2025 deadline for the SEC to make a decision on the funds.
Cboe has applied to the SEC for rules changes that would allow the exchange to list shares of the first U.S. spot ETFs based on the cryptocurrency Solana.
The exchange submitted its filings on Monday for funds proposed by VanEck and 21Shares. Once the SEC acknowledges the applications, the regulator has 240 days to decide on the request, which could come as early as March. Solana, the token of the Solana smart contracts blockchain, is the fifth largest digital asset in market value.
"Looks like Solana ETFs are going to have a final deadline of mid-March 2025," wrote Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas in an X post.
The applications come less than two weeks after VanEck and 21Shares filed S-1 registration statements for the new products that would expand the offerings for crypto-hungry investors. Solana's $65 market capitalization is behind only bitcoin, ether, and the tokens of Tether and the Binance crypto exchange, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.
Rear More: 21 Shares Applies for Spot Solana ETF
ETFs based on the spot price of bitcoin, which has a $1.1 trillion market cap, won SEC approval on Jan. 10 and have generated about $15 billion in inflows, according to U.K.-based asset manager Farside Investors. The SEC is widely expected to approve applications for at least a few of the nine spot Ethereum ETFs based on the price of that protocol's native cryptocurrency, ether, later this month.
On Monday, BlackRock, Fidelity and Grayscale filed amended S-1 prospectuses for their spot Ethereum funds.
Read More: Filings Updated as Spot Ethereum ETF Deadline Nears
Solana was recently trading at just above $140, up 1.5% over the past 24 hours. It is up nearly sevenfold over the past year, part of a torrid bull market.
Presidential Election Is Key
Balchunas added that the Solana applications were unlikely to succeed if Joe Biden, whose administration has been skeptical of cryptocurrency, wins the election. "If Trump wins, anything poss.," he wrote.
The spot bitcoin ETF that 21Shares manages jointly with ARK Invest, the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) already trades on Cboe. It has generated about $2.4 billion in inflows. The 11 funds trading have received nearly $300 million in inflows over the past two trading days after a sluggish latter half of June.
21Shares Solana Staking ETP, which trades on European exchanges and tracks Solana's performance while capturing staking yields, has $802 million in assets under management. The crypto-focused firm also has funds tracking the tokens of other major cryptocurrencies, including Cardano and Polkadot.
