VanEck has submitted an S-1 registration statement for its “VanEck Solana Trust,” marking the first public attempt to launch a spot Solana (SOL) ETF in the United States. This ETF aims to track the performance of Solana by backing the Trust’s shares directly with SOL tokens and plans to list them on the Cboe BZX Exchange.
The prospectus highlights that neither the Trust nor its Sponsor will engage in staking or generating income from the Trust’s SOL holdings. This filing follows the recent approval of 19b-4 applications by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), allowing national exchanges to list spot Ethereum ETFs. Although the S-1 statements for these Ethereum ETFs await final approval, they are expected to be live soon.
VanEck’s Strategic Move
Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital asset research, expressed the firm’s interest in Solana due to its high throughput, low fees, robust security, and strong community. He views Solana as a competitor to Ethereum and an attractive ETF option. Sigel also sees SOL as a commodity, comparable to Bitcoin and Ethereum, despite the SEC’s stance that SOL should be classified as a security.
“We believe the native token, SOL, functions similarly to other digital commodities such as Bitcoin and ETH,” Sigel tweeted. “Like Ether on the Ethereum network, SOL can be traded on digital asset platforms or used in peer-to-peer transactions.”
Industry Impact
The SEC’s unexpected approval of Ethereum ETFs last month has boosted confidence within the crypto industry, suggesting the possibility of a broader acceptance of various crypto asset ETFs. This move came just before the SEC’s deadline to decide on Ethereum ETFs and followed the closure of an investigation into Consensys regarding ETH’s security status.
Despite ongoing lawsuits against major crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, which claim SOL passes the Howey Test (classifying it as a security), experts believe that with Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs already approved, denying Solana the same opportunity would be challenging.
“Assuming the SEC gives final approval of ETH ETFs, it’s pretty hard to see how it can deny approval to Solana ETFs, given that they function in identical ways, especially from the SEC’s perspective,” said University of Kentucky law professor Brian L. Frye.
However, the SEC’s approval process is lengthy, and the agency’s current leadership may not expedite Solana ETFs. Frye suggests that the SEC is approving these ETFs reluctantly, as it sees no feasible way to avoid it.
Conclusion
VanEck’s application for a Solana ETF could pave the way for more diverse crypto asset ETFs. While the approval process may be slow, the potential acceptance of Solana ETFs could further solidify the integration of cryptocurrencies into mainstream financial markets.
