21Shares files for spot Solana ETF less than 24 hours after VanEck
- Asset manager 21Shares has filed an S-1 draft with the SEC for a Solana ETF.
- The move follows an earlier SOL ETF filing from Van Eck on Thursday.
- 21Shares won't offer SOL staking within the ETF.
Asset manager 21Shares filed an S-1 registration statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday for a spot Solana (SOL) ETF, about 24 hours after VanEck filed for the same product.
Other asset managers could file for SOL ETF in the coming weeks, especially after many crypto proponents speculated that presidential candidate Donald Trump's victory in the upcoming US elections could pave the way for the launch of these products.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 28, 2024
21Shares reveals key details in Solana ETF filing
Similar to its earlier applications with spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, the product will trade on the Cboe exchange, and Coinbase will serve as the trust custodian.
21Shares also intends to refrain from allowing the staking of Solana within the ETF.
"Neither the Trust, nor the Sponsor, nor the SOL Custodian, nor any other person associated with the Trust will, directly or indirectly, employ any portion of the Trust's assets in actions where any portion of the Trust's SOL becomes subject to the Solana proof-of-stake validation or is used to earn additional SOL or generate income or other earnings (collectively, 'Staking Activities')," the filing reads.
Prospective spot ETH ETF issuers had earlier updated their filings to remove staking from their applications after rumors that the SEC isn't comfortable with the concept.
According to 21Shares' filing on the SEC's website, if SOL is ultimately classified as a security, "and the sponsors decide not to comply with such other regulatory and registration requirements, the sponsors will terminate the Trust," said Wu Blockchain.
Many experts have predicted that the ETFs may be denied, as the SEC had declared Solana a security in more than two separate lawsuits. Additionally, Solana has no futures ETF product, which the SEC stated was a major determining factor in the approval of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
But Matthew Sigel, Head of Digital Strategy at VanEck seem to disagree, stating that "there are already commodity ETFs on shipping, uranium & power where futures market is immaterial for price formation."
Focus on a "regulated [futures] market of significant size" is stupid. There are already commodity ETFs on shipping, uranium & power where futures market is immaterial for price formation.
— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) June 27, 2024
Surveillance sharing agreements w/ spot crypto exchanges can obviate need for CME futures. https://t.co/aDGSwglcJZ
Solana's price has yet to react to the news of the filing as it's trading around $142, down about 3% in the past 24 hours.
Crypto ETF FAQs
An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is an investment vehicle or an index that tracks the price of an underlying asset. ETFs can not only track a single asset, but a group of assets and sectors. For example, a Bitcoin ETF tracks Bitcoin’s price. ETF is a tool used by investors to gain exposure to a certain asset.
Yes. The first Bitcoin futures ETF in the US was approved by the US Securities & Exchange Commission in October 2021. A total of seven Bitcoin futures ETFs have been approved, with more than 20 still waiting for the regulator’s permission. The SEC says that the cryptocurrency industry is new and subject to manipulation, which is why it has been delaying crypto-related futures ETFs for the last few years.
Bitcoin spot ETF has been approved outside the US, but the SEC is yet to approve one in the country. After BlackRock filed for a Bitcoin spot ETF on
June 15, the interest surrounding crypto ETFs has been renewed. Grayscale – whose application for a Bitcoin spot ETF was initially rejected by the SEC – got a victory in court, forcing the US regulator to review its proposal again. The SEC’s loss in this lawsuit has fueled hopes that a Bitcoin spot ETF might be approved by the end of the year.
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