Asset manager 21Shares has officially filed an S-1 registration statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) for a spot Solana ETF.
21Shares has filed its “21Shares Core Solana ETF” with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response to VanEck’s proposal for a Solana (SOL) Trust, according to paperwork submitted on Friday.
In both files, cryptocurrency staking was prominently excluded from bids, a recent trend for ETFs backed by cryptocurrencies. The Solana ETF proposal for 21Shares is the second of its sort; SOL has been a major player in this cycle, competing with major players like Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC).
SOL has made the rounds as the next cryptocurrency to take over the exchange-traded fund wrapper that drew in institutional capital following the successful adoption of the Bitcoin ETF and the upcoming Ethereum ETF.
Experts and business titans, such as Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy, contend that despite the excitement, it will be challenging to introduce spot SOL ETFs to the market for at least next year.
Additionally, Gaevoy forecasts that investors may need more time to purchase another cryptocurrency investment product because of the meager capital inflows into spot ETH ETFs.
One common element among the SOL ETF registrations to date is classifying Solana’s native token as a commodity rather than a security. The approach and premise of SOL-backed funds are similar to those taken by potential Spot Ethereum ETF providers.
According to a post by Matthew Sigel, head of research for digital assets at VanEck, on June 27, SOL serves as a payment currency and transaction fee facility for blockchain computing services, much like other digital commodities like Bitcoin and Ether.
Sigel further asserted that the SOL network is not controlled by a single party or middleman, reinforcing its decentralized structure and commodity status.
Sigel states that the SOL ecosystem’s wide range of services and uses, from NFTs to decentralized finance (defi), “underlines SOL’s utility and value as a digital commodity.”