TL;DR
- Cboe has filed applications to list Solana cash ETFs from 21Shares and VanEck.
- The SEC must decide on these applications by March 2025.
- The approval of these ETFs could depend on the outcome of the US presidential elections in 2024.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) has submitted two formal applications to list Solana cash exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on its platform.
These applications, for the 21Shares and VanEck ETFs, were submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 8, 2024.
Cboe files 19b-4s for both VanEck & 21Shares Solana ETFs…
Once SEC acknowledges these filings, the decision clock starts ticking. https://t.co/JsRBLjudyT pic.twitter.com/94RLLEiwbU
— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) July 8, 2024
Under SEC rules, the agency has 240 days to make a decision, leading to a deadline of March 2025.
Cboe filed two Form 19b-4s, one for the 21Shares Core Solana and one for the VanEck Solana Trust.
Cboe’s filing comes weeks after VanEck became the first U.S. firm to file an S-1 for a Solana cash ETF with the SEC, which significantly boosted Solana’s trading volume, increasing by 26% to $2.8 billion.
21Shares also filed its own S-1 application in June, highlighting on its X platform that it considers this a necessary step for the cryptocurrency industry.
The Cboe argues that a Solana spot ETF would be similar to those already in place for Bitcoin and Ethereum, noting that Solana is resistant to price manipulation and that there are measures in place to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts that justify the lack of a surveillance exchange agreement.
Cboe currently lists six of the ten available spot Bitcoin ETFs: ARK/21Shares, Fidelity Wise, Franklin, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, and Wisdom Tree.
If the Ethereum spot ETFs are approved, Cboe would be in a position to list five of them.
The approval of a Solana ETF remains uncertain, but has generated a lot of interest and speculation within the financial industry.
The Influence of the Presidential Elections on Solana ETFs
The future of Solana spot ETFs could be closely tied to the outcome of the 2024 US presidential election.
According to Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, the likelihood of a Solana ETF being approved in the next 12 months is directly related to the possibility of a change in the presidency.
Yes, the odds of a Solana ETF being approved in next 12mo are tied at the hip to the odds of a change in POTUS and safe to say the chances of both are higher today then they were yesterday.. Altho we not giving any exact number on this yet. Way too early. https://t.co/lCdF3EXtLK
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 28, 2024
Balchunas suggests that the chances of approval would increase significantly if Donald Trump were re-elected.
In contrast, if Joe Biden wins the election, ETF applications could be “dead on arrival.”
This political perspective adds an additional layer of complexity and speculation to the approval process.
History shows that regulatory policies can vary dramatically with the administration in power, affecting crucial decisions in the financial arena.
The cryptocurrency industry, in particular, has experienced fluctuating regulations that have influenced its development and adoption.
Although it is still early to predict the outcome with certainty, the financial sector is keeping an eye on developments both in the political arena and in the SEC’s decisions.
The approval of SOL ETFs could have significant implications for the cryptocurrency market, boosting its legitimacy and attracting new investors.
Meanwhile, the SEC clock is ticking, and the financial world awaits with interest the final verdict.
