ETFs
VanEck files for Solana ETF – and he says SOL is a commodity – DL News
- VanEck has filed to open a Solana spot ETF.
- The move comes as Ethereum spot ETFs could launch any day now.
- This may indicate that regulators and politicians are warming up to crypto.
VanEck filed Thursday to launch a Solana spot exchange-traded fund, becoming the first asset manager to do so.
The ETF application asserts that Solana’s SOL token should be treated as a commodity and not a security as the Securities and Exchanges Commission has previously argued.
“We believe the native token, SOL, functions similarly to other digital products such as Bitcoin and Ether,” Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research, said in a statement. Message X shortly after the case was made public.
Sigel said the broad range of applications and services supported by the Solana ecosystem underscores the utility and value of SOL as a digital asset.
VanEck Form S-1 names the proposed ETF “VanEck Solana Trust” and says the company will retain the SOL held in the ETF itself.
VanEck’s request comes as the crypto community waits for the SEC to greenlight a handful of spot Ethereum ETFs any day now, which market watchers hope will allow it to repeat some of the success of its spot Bitcoin ETF launch in January.
To some, the app signals that VanEck is betting on a perceived change in mood in Washington, with Joe Biden and Donald Trump having apparently softened their stances on crypto of late.
No futures market?
VanEck’s request to launch a Solana spot ETF is unprecedented.
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The SEC has previously supported that no crypto spot ETF can be listed on US exchanges until there is a regulated, highly correlated futures market for the corresponding asset.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler first indicated he would approve spot Bitcoin ETFs on August 3, 2021, when outstanding interest on Bitcoin futures contracts at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange stood at 1 .3 billion, an ETF issuer said. DL News.
When the SEC approved an Ethereum ETF in May, open interest in Ether futures contracts was about $700 million.
Solana, however, does not have a regulated U.S.-based futures market.
If VanEck succeeds, Solana’s SOL will become the third crypto asset to get its own spot ETF behind Bitcoin and Ether.
A change of heart
VanEck’s confidence in filing a Solana cash ETF could be further evidence of regulators’ softening stance ahead of the U.S. election.
After months of radio silence, the SEC appeared poised to deny eight one-off Ethereum ETF applications ahead of the May 23 deadline.
But a few days before, the agency U-turn on his approach and began frantically communicating with potential ETF issuers, even telling relevant exchanges that he was leaning toward approving the products.
Analysts attribute these endorsements to a change in attitude from Democratic Party leaders, as crypto becomes more politicized in the run-up to the November election.
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Trump recently backed the crypto industry.
Tim Craig is a DeFi correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tim@dlnews.com.