On Wednesday (December 4), Solana's token SOL soared past $240. Grayscale Investment has formally applied to the New York Stock Exchange for the SOL ETF. Just a few weeks after the New York Stock Exchange received approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to open Bitcoin ETF options trading, Grayscale once again awakened the crypto market to buy before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office in 2025.
Wall Street has marked an important milestone in 2024. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs earlier this year, triggering a surge in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets. As trading matures, the crypto community is now preparing for other altcoin ETFs. Solana ETF seems to be the next key, and Grayscale, a well-known cryptocurrency fund, has also taken action.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Spot ETF (GBTC) has been one of the most successful Bitcoin ETFs since its launch in January. With the recent growth of the Solana ecosystem and its native cryptocurrency, companies are scrambling to attach futures ETFs to the token.
With the possibility of an ETF for Ripple (XRP) also being approved, 2025 could be an even bigger year for cryptocurrency investing than 2024.
Grayscale Solana Trust is the largest trust of its kind in the world and, as of Tuesday, the largest OL investment fund by assets under management. The trust manages about $134.2 million in assets. For context, that's 0.1% of all outstanding SOLs.
According to Grayscale’s filing, the company believes that allowing the trust shares to be listed and traded on an exchange as an ETP (i.e., converting the trust into a spot SOL ETP) will provide other investors with a safe and secure way to invest in SOL on a regulated national securities exchange.
Additionally, with the upcoming shakeup of the SEC, the Solana ETF hopes to be approved faster than its predecessor (the Bitcoin spot ETF).
Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who has long held an unfriendly stance toward Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, has announced that he will step down on January 20, 2025, the day Trump is sworn in, boosting Wall Street's efforts to submit applications.
If the Solana ETF is approved, the United States will get its third cryptocurrency-based ETF in 2024.
Bitcoin was the first, receiving regulatory approval in January. The Ethereum ETF followed a few months later. Despite Bitcoin’s huge success, Ethereum has yet to replicate the same performance.
In addition to Grayscale's Solana ETF submission, other players including 21Shares, Canary Capital, VanEck, and Bitwise have also submitted similar applications, indicating that they are racing for regulatory approval. The growing interest reflects Solana's growing prominence in the cryptocurrency space, thanks to its rapid adoption and innovative technology.
SOL has surged 275% in value over the past year, helped by its appeal as a scalable and cost-effective alternative to Ethereum, and its current market capitalization exceeds $110 billion, making it one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
This meteoric growth has increased demand for Solana-related investment products, making ETFs a convenient entry point for both institutional and retail investors.
