Another Solana ETF Approved in Brazil—What About the US?

Brazil’s securities regulator approved a second Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) this week, marking the second such move in August. While the altcoin-based investment vehicle is gaining traction in Brazil, however, the path to similar approvals in the United States remains unclear.

The new Solana ETF, approved by the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) on Tuesday, will be offered by Brazil-based asset manager Hashdex, according to the regulator’s database. The fund is currently in a pre-operational phase, the data shows.

Earlier this month, the CVM approved Brazil’s first ETF focused on Solana, which was created by Brazilian asset manager QR Asset and operated by administrator Vortx.

In the U.S., both VanEck and 21Shares filed for spot Solana ETFs in June following initial approvals of Ethereum ETFs. VanEck’s Matthew Sigel, the firm’s head of digital assets research, declared earlier this month that U.S. approvals would be “inevitable” following the approval of Brazil’s first Solana ETF.

But there are no signs of when that will happen—and there's a potential hitch. The two 19b-4 filings were recently removed from the website of Cboe Global Markets, which had originally filed them on behalf of the respective issuers.

Solana ETF Approval Odds Are Better Without Gensler at SEC, Says VanEck

VanEck Head of Digital Assets Research Matthew Sigel suggested during an interview yesterday that the odds of its bid to offer spot Solana ETF vary greatly depending on the outcome of the 20204 presidential election and whether Gary Gensler remains chair of the Securities and Exchange Commimssion. VanEck filed an application to offer U.S. investors a spot Solana ETF just last week, and was quickly followed by 21Shares. Since the filings were submitted, it's been a popular refrain among Solana ho...

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said Tuesday on Twitter (aka X) that the filings were never posted on the website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), effectively making the filings dead on arrival. That led to Cboe pulling the listings, he wrote, even though the issuers themselves may have active S-1 filings for the proposed funds.

“A snowball's chance in hell of approval unless there's change in leadership,” Balchunas said of Solana ETFs under the Gary Gensler-led SEC, which has pursued enforcement actions against a number of crypto startups and projects. In a reply, Balchunas suggested that the presidential election could also factor into the future of Solana ETFs in the U.S.

“Near-zero chance in 2024, and if Harris wins, there's probably near-zero chance in 2025 too,” he added. “Only hope [in my opinion] is if Trump wins.”

Speculation over the fate of Solana ETFs in the U.S., as well as how the SEC perceived the regulatory status of SOL, have lingered for years. The SEC did not immediately reply to Decrypt’s request for comment.

Despite the missing Cboe filings, VanEck Digital Asset Research Head Matthew Sigel tweeted late Monday that the firm’s Solana ETF plans are still “in play.”

“Remember that exchanges like Nasdaq & CBOE file rule changes (19b-4) to list new ETFs. Issuers like VanEck are responsible for the prospectus (S-1),” Sigel said in a tweet on Monday. “Ours remains in play.”