Barely a month after the approval of the first Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETF) applications by the United States Securities And Exchange Commission, VanEck, a top digital asset firm, has filed the first-ever Solana ETF. The development was also confirmed by its head of digital assets research, Matthew Sigel. With this development, VanECK becomes the first company to apply for a Solana ETF.
Described as Vaneck Solana Trust, Sigel said the firm believes that Solana is a commodity. According to him, Solana operates in a similar way as top cryptocurrencies like Ether and Bitcoin since it utilizes transaction fees and computational services on the blockchain. Just like Ether, Sigel said SOL can either be traded on crypto trading platforms or through P2P services.
VanECK’s Solana Trust aims to leverage the decentralized nature of Solana as well as its unique utility and economic feasibility. However, at press time, the firm has not revealed the fees it would charge for the fund.
VanECK has built a strong reputation as one of the top digital asset investment managers in the world. It was among the first firms to issue Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States. According to reports, the VanECK Bitcoin ETF Trust started trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange after its approval by the SEC in January 2024. It uses the “HODL” ticker.
SEC makes a U-turn on crypto ETF
Over the past few years, the U.S. regulator vehemently rejected crypto ETFs, insisting that they could facilitate more market manipulation. In fact, VanECK’s Bitcoin ETF applications were rejected four times. Nonetheless, things took a new turn after the regulator lost the legal battle relating to the issue in 2023. Therefore, it was compelled to give its approval to all Bitcoin ETF applications, even though it maintained that the development does not mean it supports Bitcoin or crypto.
The approval triggered wild excitement in the crypto town and raised expectations about Ethereum following the same route. With that, top investment managers like Blackrock, Grayscale, Fidelity, and Bitwise, amongst others filed the first ETH ETF before the SEC.
The regulator’s position on Ethereum being security made many believe it would reject the applications. Rather than reject, the SEC asked the firms to fine-tune their 19b forms, with full approval expected in July.
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