- VanEck has filed for the first Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States
- Matthew Sigel has announced VanEck’s Solana ETF application following Bitcoin and imminent Ethereum ETFs
- The Solana ETF filing has surprised many due to the SEC’s attitude towards the broader crypto sector
In a sign that crypto fever is taking over mainstream finance, prominent investment management firm VanEck has filed for the first Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, revealed the move yesterday, with its application following the successful Bitcoin ETF and the imminent Ethereum ETF. While applications for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs were not a huge surprise, the prospect of a Solana ETF has caught more people off guard, especially considering the SEC’s stance toward all non-Bitcoin and non-Etheeum cryptocurrencies.
Sigel Extols Technical Virtues of Solana
Sigel announced the filing on X yesterday in a lengthy post that expressed his for Solana on a technical level as an Ethereum competitor:
I am excited to announce that VanEck just filed for the FIRST Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.
Some thoughts on why we believe SOL is a commodity are below.
Why did we file for it?
A competitor to Ethereum, Solana is open-source blockchain software designed to… pic.twitter.com/XwwPy8BXV2— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) June 27, 2024
Sigel praised Solana’s “unique combination of scalability, speed, and low costs,” adding that it “may offer a better user experience [than Ethereum] for many use cases.” This technical argument is something we haven’t yet seen applied to ETF candidates, but it makes sense as ETF holders will want to know exactly what they are buying.
Challenge to SEC’s Prevailing Viewpoint
VanEck’s decision to file for a Solana ETF is rooted in the belief that “the native token, SOL, functions similarly to other digital commodities such as #bitcoin and #ETH,” according to Sigel, who added that it is “utilized to pay for transaction fees and computational services on the blockchain.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may have something to say about this, however, given its well-publicized contention that all coins other that Bitcoin are securities. This has changed recently with softened stance on Ethereum, but the SEC risks undermining its years-long approach, upon which many lawsuits have been based, by allowing a Solana ETF.
We can, therefore, expect more pushback on this from the SEC than we saw with the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF applications in recent years, but if it is allowed then this could usher in a sea change in the SEC’s attitude towards the entire sector.
