The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged the request of Grayscale, a crypto asset management firm, to establish an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for Solana, a smart contract platform.
In a recent post on the social media platform X, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart mentioned that the SEC’s formal recognition of the request is significant because the regulatory agency had previously rejected it.
ETFs allow traders to gain exposure to assets like precious metals and cryptocurrencies without actually buying them. The SEC approved ETFs based on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in 2024.
According to senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the acknowledgment is a small step in the right direction, as the SEC, under former Chair Gary Gensler, instructed the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) to withdraw its application for a Solana ETF.
Balchunas also noted that this is the first time an ETF application tracking a cryptocurrency previously considered a “security” has been acknowledged by the SEC. Just six weeks ago, the SEC, led by Gensler, told the CBOE to withdraw their Solana application. Therefore, this is new territory, although it is just a small step, but it appears to be the direct result of a change in leadership.
In December, the SEC rejected all Solana-based ETF applications before Gensler resigned from his position before the inauguration of President Donald Trump. At that time, Balchunas predicted that the firms would reapply after the change in regime.
Seyffart further pointed out that the SEC changing its stance on Solana could benefit crypto firms facing lawsuits where the regulatory body claims that SOL qualifies as a “security.”
The final deadline for Grayscale’s application is expected to be around October 11th, according to Seyffart.
At the time of writing, Solana is trading at $193.37, representing a 1.3% increase in the last 24 hours.
