Bitwise has filed for a Solana (SOL) exchange-traded fund (ETF). This comes as SOL is nearing a new all-time high. Right now, it's trading just above $255, having almost hit $259 on Thursday afternoon. At its peak today, Solana was less than a dollar away from its record price set back in 2021.
However, Bitwise needs to take a few more steps. They will have to submit additional forms to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to get approval. Their filing with Delaware is just the first step in this process.
ETFs are investment tools that trade on stock exchanges. They allow investors to gain exposure to an underlying asset. The SEC approved Bitcoin ETFs in January, which opened the floodgates for institutional capital. With these funds, investors can buy shares that track cryptocurrency prices.
Bitwise already has two crypto products trading on U.S. exchanges: the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF and the Bitwise Ethereum ETF. The Solana blockchain enables developers to create decentralized applications (dapps), meme coins, games, and more. It competes with Ethereum by offering cheaper and faster transactions.
Other asset managers, like Canary Capital, VanEck, and 21Shares, have also filed for a Solana ETF. Initially, the SEC's view of Solana as an unregistered security made this challenging. But the political landscape has shifted since Donald Trump’s recent election.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced he will resign on January 20, 2025, the same day Trump begins his second term. Trump has a pro-crypto stance and is expected to appoint a more crypto-friendly SEC Chair.
The optimism around the potential approval of Solana’s ETF has been a major factor in SOL’s recent price surge, which has jumped 30% in the last two weeks.
In other news, MicroStrategy (MSTR) reached an all-time high as Bitcoin surpassed $98,000. The stock opened strong but later dropped over 18% before bouncing back. This volatility reflects how Wall Street is adjusting to rising expectations for crypto stocks following Bitcoin’s post-election rally. Other Bitcoin-related stocks, like Bitfarms (BITF), also saw declines, with BITF falling 6% to $2.06.
In a different development, Anoncast, a zero-knowledge app, saw its token price surge by 350%. This app allows users with at least 20,000 ANON tokens to make anonymous posts on Farcaster. After the spike, the token has stabilized but remains 190% higher than yesterday. This increase followed data showing Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin swapped 0.082 ETH for 30,303 ANON tokens on Wednesday evening.
Bitcoin continues to break records this year, recently climbing past $97,000. Traders are eyeing a six-figure price for the leading cryptocurrency. Analysis of the asset's derivatives market indicates it hasn’t overheated yet. Bitcoin surged past previous highs above $95,000 in less than an hour on Wednesday night, according to CoinGecko data. This price movement led to around $100 million in liquidations over the last 24 hours, with 80% of those coming from short positions.