SEC approval fully rolled out, eight major institutions competing for Solana ETF

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seems to have entered the final stage of its approval process for the spot Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF). The initial seven potential issuers recently submitted revised S-1 filings, while a new entrant has also joined the competition.

It is worth noting that each document contains information about staking, which was added at the request of the SEC.

As the cryptocurrency industry prepares for the potential approval of a third cryptocurrency asset ETF by the SEC, here are the eight companies that have applied to issue a Solana ETF, listed in the order of their initial application submissions:

VanEck

VanEck became the first company to apply for a Solana ETF about a year ago. At that time, although the SEC insisted that Solana was a security, some compared this application to a call option on a specific political outcome.

This decision may yield returns, but if the SEC follows precedent and approves Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs all at once instead of approving them in the order that issuers applied, it could be a Pyrrhic victory.

To this end, VanEck has been advocating for the SEC to adopt a "first-apply" principle, believing that it is more conducive to innovation and competition.

VanEck utilizes a third party to provide Solana staking services for its European exchange-traded products (ETP).

21Shares

21Shares has submitted a Solana ETF application following VanEck, hoping that the SEC will adopt a "first application" principle.

The Core Solana ETF planned by 21Shares will be traded on specific exchanges, and redemptions will be made in SOL tokens.

A well-known cryptocurrency exchange platform has been listed as a staking service provider mentioned in the base prospectus submitted by 21Shares in Europe.

Canary Capital

Canary Capital submitted an application for the SOL ETF before a specific point in time.

Compared to some funds on the list, Canary Capital is smaller in scale, but it has recently gained prominence for applying for multiple altcoin ETFs. Its submitted ETF applications include various emerging cryptocurrencies.

Bitwise

Bitwise applied for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) shortly after a specific political event. The company's CEO referred to Solana as an "incredibly emerging asset and story" in an interview.

Bitwise launched a Solana-based staking ETP in December, with staking services provided by a third party. If the U.S. approves a staking ETF, it could be a good sign for the service provider.

Grayscale

Grayscale is seeking to convert its SOL trust into a spot ETF, similar to how it has handled its Bitcoin and Ethereum trusts. Currently, the trading price of the GSOL trust is higher than its net asset value, which means that investors are willing to pay a price above the underlying SOL for this product.

Last month, the SEC postponed its decision on Grayscale's exchange-traded fund (ETF), stating that it has not "reached any conclusions" regarding the 19b-4 application documents for the proposed spot SOL ETF.

Franklin Templeton

Franklin Templeton Investments offers exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Bitcoin and Ethereum, and has submitted application documents for ETFs for SOL and XRP.

This $1.5 trillion fund has also invested in many other cryptocurrency projects, and its crypto separately managed account (SMA) has a small allocation to SOL. Its tokenized money market fund also received support from Solana earlier this year.

Fidelity

In the current competition, Fidelity is a giant. Its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has an asset management scale only second to another large asset management company, while its Ethereum ETF's asset management scale lags behind that company and Grayscale's conversion trust.

Fidelity is a major provider of brokerage, trust, and individual retirement accounts, and it may become a key driver of inflows into the approved SOL exchange-traded fund (ETF).

CoinShares

CoinShares is the latest company to join the competition for Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs), entering the race as existing issuers compete to submit their revised S-1 forms.

This European asset management company focused on cryptocurrencies has launched exchange-traded products (ETPs) targeting BTC, ETH, and a range of altcoins.