VanEck, an investment management firm known for being among the first to introduce spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US, has filed for the first Solana ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On June 27, VanEck's head of digital assets research, Matthew Sigel, announced the filing for the VanEck Solana Trust on X.
Sigel highlighted the fund's focus on Solana's "decentralized nature, high utility, and economic feasibility."
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Sigel elaborated on why VanEck views Solana as a commodity akin to Bitcoin and Ether. He stated:
We believe the native token, SOL, functions similarly to other digital commodities such as Bitcoin and Ether. It is utilized to pay for transaction fees and computational services on the blockchain. Like Ether on the Ethereum network, SOL can be traded on digital asset platforms or used in peer-to-peer transactions.
The fund aims to mirror the price performance of Solana, excluding the operational costs of the trust. The trust's shares will be valued daily based on the MarketVector Solana Benchmark Rate index, which uses price data from the top five SOL trading platforms, as identified by the CCData Centralized Exchange Benchmark review report.
If approved, the VanEck Solana Trust will be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange.
VanEck's move comes in the wake of the SEC's approval of spot Ether ETFs on May 23, 2024. This approval resolved debates about ETH's status by classifying it as a commodity, leading the SEC to cease its investigation into whether Ether should be considered a security.
VanEck's initiative reflects its strategy to expand its crypto offerings. By introducing the Solana Trust, VanEck aims to provide investors with exposure to Solana's growth potential in a regulated environment.
