Coinspeaker
Brazilian Regulator Approves Second Solana ETF while US Backtracks
On Tuesday, the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) gave approval for the country’s second spot Solana exchange-traded-fund (ETF). Interestingly, this second approval comes just within a month’s time after CVM approved the Solana ETF from the QR asset manager earlier this month in August.
The data from the CVM database shows that the Brazil-based asset manager Hashdex, with over $964 million in assets under management, will offer this Solana ETF in partnership with local investment bank BTG Pactual. Currently, this SOL ETF will be in the pre-operational phase.
Hashdex is a prominent player in the ETF market and has already launched products such as the spot Bitcoin ETF and the spot Ethereum ETF in the US market. The filing shows that the Hashdex Solana ETF will be listed on the B3 Brazilian stock exchange.
Solana ETF Approval Faces Setback in the United States
While other markets have shown interest in the Solana investment product, the CBOE Exchange recently removed the 19b-4 filings for the spot Solana ETF from VanEck and 21Shares, from its website.
Amid these developments, Bloomberg ETF strategist Eric Balchunas recently stated that the ETFs now have a “snowball’s chance in hell of approval”.
Nice flow chart showing how the Solana ETF filings never made it past Step 2 (the SEC failed to ack them) = DOA. So the exchanges withdrew 19b-4s altho the issuers' S-1s are still active. A snowball's chance in hell of approval unless there's change in leadership via @JSeyff pic.twitter.com/e8BNKT33KH
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 20, 2024
In response to this original post, Balchunas further said:
“Yes, near-zero chance in 2024, and if Harris wins, there’s prob near-zero chance in 2025 too. Only hope IMO is if Trump wins.”
On the other hand, VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets Research, Matthew Sigel, stated that its S-1 filing is “still in play” even though the CBOE exchange removed the 19b-4 from its website. “Remember that Exchanges like Nasdaq & CBOE file rule changes (19b-4) to list new ETFs. Issuers like VanEck are responsible for the prospectus (S-1). Ours remains in play,” he said.
Furthermore, Sigel stressed that Solana is a commodity similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum. This classification is essential for SOL to qualify for an ETF. Sigel also noted that recent shifts in legal perspectives are influencing how crypto assets are classified.
Courts and regulators are increasingly acknowledging that certain crypto assets might function as securities in primary markets while exhibiting characteristics more akin to commodities in secondary markets. This evolving understanding is shaping the regulatory landscape for digital assets.
Brazilian Regulator Approves Second Solana ETF while US Backtracks
