Ethereum
VanEck files for Solana ETF in the US, following Bitcoin and Ethereum approvals
VanEck filed a S-1 Registration Statement Thursday for its “VanEck Solana Trust” – the first public attempt to launch a spot Solana (SOL) ETF in the United States.
The prospectus states that the product will be an “exchange-traded fund” designed to “mirror the price performance of Solana” by backing the Trust’s shares directly with SOL tokens. VanEck intends to list the ETF on the Cboe BZX exchange.
“Neither the Trust nor the Sponsor… will engage in any action in which any portion of the Trust’s SOL is used to earn staking rewards, to earn additional SOL, or to generate revenue or other gains,” it states. the press release.
The filing comes after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month approved 19b-4 applications from national exchanges allowing them to list in cash. Ethereum ETFs on their platforms. S-1 filings for Ethereum ETFs have not yet been greenlit, although agency comments and expert analysis suggest they could go live next week.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, wrote in a tweet that the company sees Solana as a competitor to Ethereum and an attractive ETF offering thanks to its “high throughput, low fees, robust security, and strong community vibe.”
The company also views the SOL token as a clearly defined product, despite the SEC’s repeated assertions in court that the asset should be classified as a security.
“We believe the native token, SOL, functions similarly to other digital products such as Bitcoin and ETH,” Sigel tweeted on Thursday. “Like Ether on the Ethereum network, SOL can be traded on digital asset platforms or used in peer-to-peer transactions.”
After months of radio silence on the issue, the crypto industry was shocked to see the SEC fast-track approval of Ethereum ETFs last month, moments before the deadline to make a decision on the matter.
The sudden pivot, followed by the closure of their investigation into Ethereum software giant Consensys regarding the security status of ETH, has boosted industry confidence that the agency may have opened the floodgates to a huge range of crypto asset ETFs. (Disclosure: Consensys is one of 22 investors in Decrypt.)
The SEC’s lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken are still ongoing, as are its claims in those lawsuits that SOL passes the Howey test, therefore making it a security in the eyes of the agency. However, experts believe that with Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs already approved, making a coherent argument to deny Solana the same product is an uphill battle.
“Assuming the SEC gives final approval to the ETH ETFs, it is quite difficult to see how it could withhold approval of the Solana ETFs, given that they operate essentially identically, especially from a security perspective. SEC,” said Brian L., a law professor at the University of Kentucky. Frye in a message to Decrypt.
That said, the SEC’s lengthy approval process means that Solana ETFs may not be operational for some time after VanEck’s application. Additionally, the SEC’s lack of enthusiasm for crypto could slow down the approval process even further, the professor said.
“I think the SEC, under its current leadership, is only reluctantly approving these ETFs because it doesn’t really see a realistic way to avoid them,” Frye concluded.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
This story was updated after publication with additional details.