CBOE Restarts US Solana ETF Race With Filings for 4 Asset Managers

The options and derivatives exchange CBOE has filed applications seeking the launch of Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for four leading asset managers in the United States. This development has once again restarted the race for the first SOL exchange-traded fund in the country.

According to details on the CBOE rule filings site, the exchange has applied to list and trade the VanEck Solana Trust, the Canary Solana Trust, the Bitwise Solana ETF, and the 21Shares Core Solana ETF.

CBOE Submits Solana ETF Proposals

Asset managers in the U.S. have not begun their Solana ETF application journey today. They tried several times last year but faced rejections from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In July 2024, CBOE filed proposals to list Solana ETFs for VanEck and 21Shares, but by August of the same year, the filings had disappeared from the exchange’s website. These developments indicated that the SEC had likely rejected the applications or, worse still, that the proposals had been withdrawn entirely.

At the time, a VanEck executive clarified that while the 19b-4 filings had been removed from CBOE’s website, the S-1 prospectus for the products was still active, signaling that the companies still intended to pursue the Solana ETF applications.

By mid-November, CBOE had submitted new applications for VanEck, Bitwise, Canary, and 21Shares Solana ETFs; however, they were rejected again in December. CBOE’s January 28 filings are the latest in this race for a U.S. Solana ETF. The next few weeks will determine if they will be the last or just another step in the way.

The Security vs. Commodity Debate

Analysts have always insisted that the odds of Solana ETF applications getting approved are low because the SEC has been under the leadership of the crypto-skeptic Gary Gensler. Since he departed the agency about a week ago, and a more crypto-friendly Paul Atkins is currently leading it, the chances of the filings getting approved may have risen significantly.

Notably, SOL, the native token of the Solana network, also faces the challenge of being classified as a security or commodity, which is crucial to greenlighting the ETFs. Asset managers seeking to launch Solana ETFs have touted the crypto asset as a commodity due to its decentralized nature and Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism; however, ongoing legal battles involving the SEC have named SOL as a security.