- Canary Capital has rebranded its proposed Solana ETF to the “Canary Marinade Solana ETF” following a partnership with Marinade Finance.
- While the SEC has delayed its decision, analysts remain optimistic about approval later in 2024, citing growing regulatory openness and existing Solana futures markets.
Investment firm Canary Capital has made an important update to its application for a new type of investment fund focused on Solana (SOL). This Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) would allow people to invest in SOL more easily. The big news in the update is the plan to add staking features.
Details of the Amended Solana ETF Filing
Canary Capital has filed an updated version of its S-1 application documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As part of these changes, the name of the proposed ETF has been updated to reflect a new collaboration.
It is now called the ‘Canary Marinade Solana ETF.’ This name change highlights the partnership with Marinade Finance, a well-known service within the Solana ecosystem that helps users stake their SOL tokens.
Staking is a way for holders of certain cryptocurrencies, like SOL, to earn rewards by helping to support the network. By including staking in the ETF, investors in the fund could potentially earn extra returns on their Solana holdings, in addition to any price changes.
This move is notable because the SEC, under its current leadership, has previously shown hesitation about allowing staking in cryptocurrency ETFs. However, regulators seem to be becoming more open to the idea. This openness has led other companies to also update their filings for Ethereum (ETH) and other altcoin ETFs to include staking options.
The news about Canary Capital’s updated filing comes at a time when the SEC has recently delayed decisions on other proposed Solana ETFs from companies like 21Shares and Bitwise. The SEC also delayed its decision on Canary’s own Solana ETF application. The next date for a decision on Canary’s filing is currently set for August 17th.
According to market analysts like James Seyffart of Bloomberg, it’s unlikely that the SEC will approve any Solana ETFs before late June or early July at the very earliest. He believes that approval is more probable in the fourth quarter of the year.
The final deadline for a decision on the Solana ETFs is October 10th. Analysts suggest the SEC might wait until this final deadline, similar to how they handled the approvals for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
Despite these delays, many experts are optimistic about the chances of a Solana ETF being approved this year. Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart predict there is a high chance, around 90%, of approval for Solana ETFs.
Their reasons include the view that the SEC now sees Solana as a commodity, which is generally easier to regulate than a security. They also note that there is already a regulated market for Solana futures contracts on the CME exchange, which is often a factor the SEC considers.
Data from Polymarket also suggests a high probability, around 82%, for a Solana ETF approval in 2025, though the chances for approval specifically before July 31st are much lower (18%).
While these regulatory processes continue, the price of Solana itself has seen positive movement. SOL is currently trading at $179.02, up 6% in the last 24 hours.
By amending its filing to add staking, Canary Capital is aiming to make its proposed Solana ETF more attractive to investors, hoping for approval as the SEC continues to evaluate cryptocurrency investment products.