21Shares files for Solana spot ETF

Following VanEck, 21Shares became the second entity to apply to establish a Solana spot ETF with the name "21Shares Core Solana ETF" according to the S-1 filing.

On the evening of June 28, 2024, the crypto community once again made waves when 21Shares submitted an application to establish the Solana Spot ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

https://t.co/SBKncjQwib— db (@tier10k) June 27, 2024

This move makes 21Shares the second organization to file an S-1 to launch the Solana spot ETF, just 1 day after rival VanEck "fired the first shot" for the Solana ETF.

According to the application, the entity filed an S-1 filing to establish a Solana Spot ETF called “21Shares Core Solana ETF,” which aims to track the price performance of SOL.

said 21Shares Head of Legal Andrew Jacobson

"21Shares is waiting for an ETF in the US that can give more investors access to the Solana ecosystem. We believe this is a necessary step forward for the cryptocurrency industry and this is completely in line with our mission. 21Shares' mission is to provide accessible financial products surrounding crypto assets."

According to the S-1 filing, the fund's objective is to provide investors with easy access and affordable means to invest in SOL without having to directly hold SOL. The redemption of shares of this Solana ETF will also be done in SOL tokens, meaning that when investors want to withdraw money from the fund, they will receive SOL instead of cash.

Additionally, 21Shares' Solana ETF will not engage in staking activities to earn additional SOL or generate profits from similar activities. 21Shares' Core Solana ETF, if listed, will trade on the Cboe BZX exchange similar to the VanEck Solana Trust.

21Shares currently manages a Solana staking exchange-traded product (ETP) with over $846 million in assets under management. They also manage a Bitcoin spot ETF that trades on the Cboe BZX exchange.

Although interest from ETF issuers is growing in Solana, experts say it is unlikely that SOL ETFs will pass the SEC's standards for a variety of reasons including the lack of a Futures market for SOL and the SEC previously said that Solana's token was a type of security.

However, head of research at VanEck Matthew Sigel believes that this time is appropriate to approve SOL ETFs because this network is decentralized and in high demand like Ethereum with many speculations that Ethereum ETF will be opened for trading before the upcoming July 4th US Independence Day holiday.

Recently, one of the leading market makers in the GSR crypto market also commented that Solana has a lot of potential for development if Solana spot ETFs are approved.

SOL price did not change too much after the news was released, currently trading at 141 USD, down 3.92% in the past 24 hours.