SOL ETFs unlikely to be approved in US ‘anytime soon’

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

---

ICYMI, Sol Strategies announced that it was investing CAD $25 million ($17.4 million) in the Solana ecosystem earlier this week. 

CEO Leah Wald told me ahead of the new year that Sol Strategies was focused on building up the “next level” of its business strategy. 

Obviously, given Sol’s focus, the firm is gonna be bullish on the ecosystem, but Wald noted how pleasantly surprised she was at the amount of developer activity and overall enthusiasm for Solana right now. 

She is skeptical, however, about a solana ETF being approved in the US “anytime soon.”

“I think there’s quite a while until a SOL ETF gets approved. During that time, as a former issuer, I know that you have a long time where you’re working with the staff and you’re working on education. That gives [potential issuers] a year…to educate the staff and make sure that everybody’s up to speed on what you know SOL actually is, and the merits and benefits, and provide…that additional timeline for maturity,” she explained. 

But she does think that Canada is likely to approve a SOL ETF from 3iQ before we see a slew of US products because the Canadian issuer is “always ahead of the US.”

Out of curiosity, and given Wald’s experience, I pushed her on why she thinks a potentially crypto-friendly regulator wouldn’t look to get an ETF that holds SOL out the door. She told me part of her reasoning was exactly because of the changing leadership at the SEC. 

If the new SEC chair “came in and said, ‘okay, all crypto ETFs are approved overnight,’ I think that that’s dangerous, actually,” she explained. It would be better to see a regulator who’s willing to put in the work to understand the differences between something like Solana and Ripple and speak to potential issuers prior to just greenlighting ETFs.

I guess we’ll have to make do with the crypto ETFs we have at home.

---

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

• Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
• Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
• Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
• 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
• Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
• The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
• Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.