The Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) submitted a proposal on March 25 to offer a spot Solana (SOL) exchange-traded fund (ETF) created by Fidelity through the filing of a 19b-4 form. This announcement followed just four days after Fidelity registered a Solana fund in Delaware.
As of December 31, Fidelity reported $5.9 trillion in assets under management, cementing its position as the third-largest asset management firm globally.
Additionally, the company accounts for the second-highest inflows from spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) ETFs traded in the United States, gathering almost $13 billion according to data from Farside Investors.
Significantly, this filing took place just days after the launch of the first SOL-related ETFs in the US. Issuer Volatility Shares introduced two products that track the price of Solana futures contracts, one of which provides exposure with 2X leverage.
The Solana ETF Race
Fidelity enters a competitive landscape of firms looking to launch an SOL ETF in the US, joining players such as 21shares, Canary Capital, Bitwise, VanEck, and Grayscale.
In January, JPMorgan estimated that inflows for SOL ETFs could range from $3 billion to $6 billion by comparing inflows of BTC and ETH exchange-traded products to their respective market caps.
Solana futures began trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on March 17, and early volume suggests there is a solid interest in SOL among traders.
Vetle Lunde, head of research at K33, highlighted that SOL futures recorded $12.3 million in trading volume on March 17, which pales in comparison to BTC’s $102.7 million and ETH’s $31 million.
Nevertheless, when adjusting for market caps to normalize the volumes, Lunde indicated that interest in Solana futures is comparable to that of Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The Competitive ETF Landscape
Asset management firms are exploring regulatory boundaries in the US following President Trump’s second term.
Recent ETF applications encompass a variety of altcoins, ranging from major cryptocurrencies like Litecoin (LTC), XRP, Cardano (ADA), and Polkadot (DOT) to mid-cap assets like Hedera (HBAR) and Axelar (AXL).
In a notable development, Canary Capital has filed for the first ETF aimed at tracking the value of a non-fungible token (NFT) collection. If approved, the fund will be linked to the PENGU token and Pudgy Penguins NFTs.
Memecoins are also being considered for ETF inclusion; for instance, Bitwise submitted a proposal for a Dogecoin (DOGE) ETF in January, widening the asset landscape for ETFs.
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