Bitcoin and crypto prices have rocketed higher since the election of Donald Trump earlier this month—with traders betting on a fresh Trump bombshell.
The bitcoin price has come within touching distance of $100,000 per bitcoin as analysts rush out a flood of hyper-bullish price predictions that could see bitcoin explode to a $30 trillion value on the back of spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) kingpin BlackRock's continued support.
Now, as rumors swirl that a country has been quietly buying up bitcoin, a leak has revealed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is softening its opposition to other crypto ETFs after years of hostility.
"Talks between SEC staff and issuers looking to launch a solana spot ETF are 'progressing' with the SEC now engaging on S-1 applications," Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett posted to X, citing anonymous sources, adding the development has fueled optimism for a solana ETF in 2025.
"These people say there’s a 'good chance' we’ll see some 19b4 filings from exchanges on behalf of prospective issuers—the next step in the ETF approval process—in the coming days."
Crypto investment companies VanEck, Bitwise, 21Shares and Canary Capital have led the Wall Street charge toward a spot solana ETF in recent months, following the landmark approval a U.S. spot bitcoin ETF in January after a decade of failed applications.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, won its own spot ETF in July, though the ethereum funds have failed to attract the same level of interest from Wall Street as the record-breaking spot bitcoin ETFs.
The price of XRP, solana and cardano have each surged by double-digit percentages over the last week, outpacing the bitcoin price boom and helping the combined crypto market soar to around $3.5 trillion.
However, traders have been warned there's still a long way to go before solana and other cryptocurrencies get approved for their own spot ETFs.
"Big question though is will the SEC acknowledge these (in two weeks) or tell them to withdrawal like last time," asked Bloomberg Intelligence's Eric Balchunas on X.
Expectations that the SEC under president-elect Donald Trump could be friendlier to crypto-based financial instruments were turbo-charged this week due to the resignation of SEC chair Gary Gensler.
Gensler, regarded by most the crypto industry as overtly and unfairly hostile to the technology, will be replaced by a Trump appointee, with many betting the president-elect will name a crypto-friendly SEC chair.
