Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) approved a second Solana (SOL) exchange-traded fund (ETF) this week, marking the second such action this month. While the SOL-based ETF is gaining traction in Brazil, there is probably a near-zero chance of similar approvals happening in the United States anytime soon.
Hashdex Greenlighted To Launch Solana ETF In Brazil
On Tuesday, the “Hashdex Nasdaq Solana Index Fund” secured approval from Brazil’s Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM). The SOL ETF will be offered by Brazil-headquartered asset manager Hashdex, in collaboration with local investment bank and wealth manager BTG Pactual.
According to the regulator’s database, the fund is currently in a pre-operational phase.
The CVM greenlighted Brazil’s first SOL-focused ETF earlier this month, introduced by Brazil-based asset manager QR Asset and managed by administrator Vortx.
In the United States, asset managers VanEck and 21Shares submitted applications for spot Solana products in June, hot on the heels of the unexpected approvals of Ether ETFs. VanEck’s Matthew Sigel, the firm’s head of digital assets research, recently asserted that U.S. SOL ETF approvals would be “inevitable” following Brazil’s move.
But there are no indications of when that is likely to happen — and there’s a major setback. The two 19b-4 filings were recently pulled from the website of the Cboe exchange, which had initially filed them on behalf of the respective would-be issuers.
U.S.-Listed SOL ETFs Have “Snowball’s Chance In Hell”
Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas commented on Tuesday that the filings were never published on the website of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), basically making the applications dead on arrival. That forced Cboe to remove the listings, Balchunas noted, even though the providers themselves still have active S-1 registration statements for the proposed ETFs.
“A snowball’s chance in hell of approval unless there’s a change in leadership,” he posited.
Other commentators have speculated that the SEC rejected the filings before they could be formally considered due to the regulator’s ongoing concerns over Solana’s potential categorization as a security.
In a response to an X user, Balchunas indicated that the presidential election could also affect the launch of U.S-listed Solana ETFs.
“Near-zero chance in 2024, and if Harris wins, there’s probably near-zero chance in 2025 too,” he said. “Only hope [in my opinion] is if Trump wins.”
This was echoed by The ETF Store president Nate Geraci, who said on Aug. 17 that SOL ETFs won’t have a chance of winning approval under the current Joe Biden administration.
