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Solana ETF Applications Reach Next Stage in SEC Review

The regulator could reach a decision at the end of a 21 day comment period.

Canary Capital founder and CEO Steve McClurg (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)
Canary Capital founder and CEO Steve McClurg (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Another day, another once unthinkable crypto exchange traded fund filing. Several Solana ETF applications have become the latest such proposed investment vehicles to reach the starting gate.

In a regulatory filing Tuesday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened up public comment on the "Canary Solana Trust," a proposed ETF from Canary Capital that would bring SOL investing into mainstream finance. The SEC acknowledged similar filings from VanEck, 21Shares and Bitwise later in the day.

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The filing amounts to a clock-setting for these companies' proposed investment vehicle. In 21 days the SEC will render a verdict (approval or denial) or, perhaps more likely, kick the decision can with deadline extensions.

Market observers are broadly bullish that SOL and other altcoins will win their own ETFs this year, but the exact timing and order is unclear. What's more seemingly apparent is the SEC's newfound willingness to look favorably upon the industry, and past the regulator's old misgivings under former Chair Gary Gensler.

Donald Trump's return to the White House created an opening for Canary to act aggressively, CEO Steve McClurg previously told CoinDesk. The firm's looking to list altcoin ETFs for assets like Solana that would have been nonstarters under the old regime.

Grayscale's prospective Solana ETF reached this starting gate last week, meaning its 21-day fate will come a few days before Canary's – and likely be a "canary in the coal mine" for both.

."While we can't predict the SEC's timeline or decision-making process, we suspect it will take some time to establish a comprehensive crypto regulatory framework. Once that framework is in place, we anticipate the SEC will begin making decisions on various tokens, including Solana," Canary's CEO Steve McClurg said.

UPDATE (Feb. 11, 2025, 22:10 UTC): Adds additional application acknowledgements.

Danny Nelson

Danny is CoinDesk's managing editor for Data & Tokens. He formerly ran investigations for the Tufts Daily. At CoinDesk, his beats include (but are not limited to): federal policy, regulation, securities law, exchanges, the Solana ecosystem, smart money doing dumb things, dumb money doing smart things and tungsten cubes. He owns BTC, ETH and SOL tokens, as well as the LinksDAO NFT.

Danny Nelson