Digital assets behemoth Grayscale has become the latest entrant into the Solana ETF race as it seeks to convert its existing Solana Trust (GSOL) into a spot SOL exchange-traded fund.
Grayscale’s filing highlights growing institutional confidence in Solana, following in the footsteps of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), which scored their own ETFs on Wall Street earlier this year.
Grayscale Files For SOL ETF In US
According to a 19b-4 form submitted Tuesday, Grayscale seeks to improve investor access to the SOL cryptocurrency by allowing shares of the Solana Trust to trade as an ETF on a regulated exchange.
Grayscale noted that the ETF conversion would improve SOL’s price tracking and remove inefficiencies caused by its unlisted structure. If approved, the Trust would trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GSOL.
The filing indicates that the Grayscale Solana Trust is “the world’s largest investment fund by assets under management”, holding at least $134 million in AUM. Grayscale claims the Solana held in the trust is roughly 0.1% of the total SOL in circulation.
Coinbase Custody was named the custodian for Grayscale’s spot SOL ETF, while BNY Mellon Asset Servicing is the fund’s administrator and transfer agent.
Grayscale is now the fifth asset manager that has made its SOL ETF application official with the SEC, following VanEck, 21Shares, Canary Capital, and Bitwise. Franklin Templeton has also expressed interest in vying for a spot SOL ETF but is yet to formally submit paperwork to the SEC.
A spot Solana exchange-traded fund would allow traditional investors to gain exposure to SOL without requiring them to buy and store the token themselves.
The price of SOL, alongside other cryptocurrencies, has rocketed higher following pro-crypto Donald Trump’s historic comeback on Nov. 6. His re-election promises a more lenient regulatory environment for the fast-growing crypto industry.
Adding to investors’ optimism on the likelihood of spot Solana ETFs notching federal approval to start trading in the U.S. is the imminent departure of current SEC chair, Gary Gensler. Under Gensler’s leadership, the SEC named SOL as an unregistered security in separate lawsuits it filed against Kraken, Binance, and Coinbase.
SOL gained roughly 4.4% after Grayscale’s filing and is up over 135% on a year-to-date basis.
