Is Solana about to surge? VanEck has applied for a Solana-based fund

VanEck, a prominent New York-based asset management firm, has filed for a Solana-based exchange-traded fund (ETF), causing a massive surge in the price of Solana (SOL). This is the largest increase for SOL in the past 30 days.

VanEck’s filing details

VanEck plans to launch the VanEck Solana Trust, an investment product that directly holds SOL tokens. The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) makes VanEck the first company to directly hold altcoins. The move is notable given the unclear regulatory status of most cryptocurrencies, with the exception of Bitcoin (BTC).

The SEC has yet to clarify whether it considers Ether (ETH) a security, but optimism about altcoin ETFs is rising following the expected approval of a spot ETH ETF. GSR co-CEO Rich Rosenblum stressed Solana’s importance in Web3, pointing to its widespread use rather than price increases.

The approval of the Solana ETF may be delayed, with Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart predicting that it will not be approved before 2025 due to the impact of the 2024 US presidential election. Historically, it took the SEC more than a decade to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Matthew Sigel of VanEck classified Solana as a commodity because it is used for transaction fees and computing services, comparing it to Bitcoin and Ethereum. He emphasized Solana's decentralized nature and practicality, indicating that it could be valuable to investors and developers.

About VanEck

VanEck is a global investment management company founded in 1955 and headquartered in New York City. VanEck is known for its innovative investment solutions and offers a variety of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), hedge funds and other investment products.

Currently has branches in Frankfurt, Pfäffikon (Schwyz, Switzerland), Madrid, Shanghai and Sydney. In addition, there is a wholly-owned index (self-indexing) company MVIS.

VanEck focuses on the following areas:

1. Natural resources and commodities: including gold and other precious metals, energy and agricultural products.
2. Emerging markets: investing in stocks and bonds in emerging market countries.
3. Alternative investments: including digital assets and blockchain technology-related investments.
4. Fixed income: providing a range of bond funds and other fixed income products.

Vanda managed ETF assets totaling approximately $44 billion in 2019, making it the seventh largest ETF issuer in the United States.

After VanEck filed its documents, SOL's price rose by about 6% to $144.16, trading volume increased by 111.37% to $3.11 billion, and the market value was $66.6 billion. Although SOL's price has fallen by 13.52% in the past 30 days, it has risen by 787.86% since June 2023, and has risen by 900% in 2023 alone. The cryptocurrency is still 44.43% below its November 2021 all-time high of $260.06 but could revisit those highs if the ETF is approved.