SOL is the currency of the Solana blockchain. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has announced it may consider a spot Solana ETF. We discuss it in the article below.
At the time of writing, the Solana price is hovering around the $200 mark. It is facing pressure from further afield and elsewhere in the crypto market, of which the market cap has risen 0.73%. However, this week the US Securities and Exchanges Commission accepted a filing for a spot Solana exchange-traded fund which is bound to strengthen sentiment. This application was an amended proposal after several previous submittals were rejected by the SEC chair Gary Gensler. Part of this previous dismissal was down to the classification of Solana. The Division of Enforcement has previously categorized this as a security falling under commodity trust shares.
Solana ETF Filing
Grayscale was the company that submitted the proposal. A digital currency asset management company, they were founded in 2013 and have risen to become one of the most prominent investors in digital currencies. It has been at the forefront of Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds over the past year.
By no means is this an indication of full approval, and the proposed time frame has not been laid out. This means it could still be a long journey for Solana ETFs to appear on the market. Some are predicting that they could be approved by the end of the year, with others suggesting it would most likely stretch into 2026.
Exchange-traded funds are a way for investors to buy into commodities without buying the product directly, in this case, Solana. They buy shares in the company that owns them, such as companies that may invest in oil, wheat, and so forth. In January of last year, the SEC gave the go-ahead for spot Bitcoin ETFs. This was later followed by Ethereum ETFs. While both have done well, Bitcoin ETFs have fared much better than Ethereum ones, which were met with some trepidation for the TradFi sector.
Price predictions for Solana
There are two major scenarios being predicted for the coin. One of these is a bearish trend with a price drop, while another follows a bull run, pushing the price up. The former would see it dip to the $150 price mark. This will occur if there is a failure to defend it at the $200 area.
In the second scenario, the ideal situation is a push past the $220 mark. This could trigger an upward shift to $250, followed by movements to $300 and $350. However, none of these will happen without volatility and short-term dips in progress. The broader crypto market has shown some signs of progress. Part of this may have been in the wake of this news about the increased possibility of altcoin ETFs. Its growth in 24 hours has pushed it to $3.23 trillion.
Ethereum has shown gains, while Bitcoin continues to hang just under the $100,000 mark.
Solana, however, is facing notorious levels of volatility. This is mainly due to economic factors from the US and further afield. There are also some questions about Layer 1 assets. Added to this is Solana’s increasing link to the memecoin sector, which is gaining a reputation as being a notorious hotbed for poor investments.
VanEck predicts a massive rise for Solana
One voice firmly behind the rise of Solana is VanEck, the crypto asset manager. A recent forecast published by them predicts that Solana will hit around $520 by 2025. This company has been at the forefront of crypto innovation and was pivotal in the formation of both Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
There are several reasons VanEck may have hedged their bets on Solana. Firstly, Solana is the biggest rival to the Ethereum blockchain. In many ways, it is better. Faster, cheaper, and with more applications migrating to it, Ethereum is currently struggling to keep up. If more institutional adoption from the traditional finance markets can take place, such as spot ETFs, then there is no reason the price of Solana will not increase.
There has been a wave of proposals to allow spot Solana ETFs over the last few months. The new government’s crypto-friendly stance has seen everyone from VanEck themselves to Canary Capital list Solana ETFs. Amongst this, there have been a slew of proposals for other altcoin ETFs. Dogecoin, XRP, and Litecoin have all seen proposals. However, it is unlikely all of these, if any, would be approved.
The future of Solana is hard to predict, especially in the current climate. If it can pull itself away from the memecoin association and become a tool for mainstream adoption, then it can see growth. Ethereum is doing little to maintain its place at the head of the table. A push from Solana would see it take over. Before long, it could quite conceivably rise to the $520 they predict.
