Emily Walker
Volatility Shares, an asset management firm, has officially filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce a Solana futures exchange-traded fund (ETF). This action follows a series of applications from various asset managers aiming to establish a spot Solana ETF earlier this year.
Could This Boost Approval for Spot ETF?
Nate Geraci, president of ETF Store, shared on the X platform on December 27 that Volatility Shares is pursuing a futures-based Solana ETF. Such an ETF allows investors to gain exposure to the price fluctuations of cryptocurrency futures contracts, specifically for Solana (SOL).
Futures contracts are financial instruments that give investors the ability to predict the future price of an asset without actually owning it. With this new Solana futures ETF, Volatility Shares will offer three types of leverage options: 1x, 2x, and -1x.
The 1x futures ETF will follow the price of Solana futures without any leverage. Conversely, the 2x leverages investments, doubling the price movement, while the -1x products allow for inverse exposure, increasing in value when futures contracts drop.
Geraci noted that this application could positively influence the approval chances for spot Solana ETFs, pointing to Volatility Shares’ previous success in advocating for Ether futures ETFs and helping to gain SEC approval for such products in 2023.
The filing specifies that the Solana futures contracts will be traded solely on exchanges registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Bloomberg ETF expert Eric Balchunas also weighed in on the application, viewing it as a promising advancement in the crypto arena. He suggested that this recent filing enhances the prospects for a successful spot SOL ETF application.
This is wild. Solana futures ETF filing bf Solana futures even exist! Oh and let’s do a 2x while we’re. Hard core.. and prob good sign SOL futures on way which arguable bodes well for spot odds. And this was supposed to be a quiet week!
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 28, 2024
Current Solana Pricing Overview
As of now, SOL is priced at approximately $195, marking a 5.5% rise in the last 24 hours. Data from CoinGecko indicates that SOL’s value has risen nearly 6% over the past week.