Cboe BZX Exchange has reinvigorated the race for U.S. spot Solana (SOL) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), refiling a fresh set of applications on Tuesday on behalf of four investment firms.
The exchange submitted new 19b-4 filings for the Canary Solana Trust, Bitwise Solana ETF, 21Shares Core Solana ETF, and the VanEck Solana Trust.
A 19b-4 filing is a document filed by exchanges on behalf of would-be issuers and once filed, the Securities and Exchange Commission restarts its review process, in this case, for spot SOL ETFs, under the regulator’s new, more crypto-friendly acting chair, Mark Uyeda.
With these applications, the Securities and Exchange Commission will restart its review process for spot Solana investment products. Cboe’s refiling comes after the withdrawal of previous applications late last year at the SEC’s request.
These investment products, if greenlighted, would offer traditional investors direct exposure to SOL without the hassle of buying and storing the cryptocurrency, potentially widening access to the crypto market.
SOL ETFs To Be Approved Under The New Crypto-Friendly White House?
Industry pundits are hopeful that a Solana ETF could receive the regulatory greenlight this year, given that the new Donald Trump government has adopted a friendly stance toward the crypto sector. During the previous SEC administration under crypto antagonist Gary Gensler, the agency allowed the introduction of Bitcoin and Ether ETFs.
The new SEC has already revoked past crypto-related actions made under Genser’s leadership, including rescinding a controversial rule that mandate financial firms holding crypto to record them as liabilities on their balance sheets.
One hurdle, however, for a SOL ETF will be whether it is categorized as a commodity like Bitcoin and Ether or an unregistered security. It’s worth noting that there are ongoing SEC lawsuits against crypto exchanges alleging that SOL constitutes an unregistered security.
Regardless, investment banking behemoth JPMorgan estimated a greenlighted spot Solana ETF could draw in between $3 billion and $6 billion in net assets during the first year.
