Solana is making a major entry into the mainstream cryptocurrency arena with the launch of the first Solana staking exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is expected to attract billions of dollars from institutional investors, analysts say.
Investors are eagerly anticipating the debut of multiple altcoin ETFs, including Bitwise’s Solana ETF, Canary’s Litecoin ETF, and Hedera’s HBAR ETF, which are all slated to launch very soon.
According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, these new offerings highlight growing recognition of altcoins in regulated investment markets.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the Solana staking ETF is being hailed as a “transformative” milestone. Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget exchange, estimates the fund could channel between $3 billion and $6 billion into Solana during its first year.
One key feature of the new ETF is its staking mechanism, which allows investors to lock their SOL tokens within the network for a set period in exchange for passive income, currently around 5%. Lee says this additional yield could broaden institutional interest, extending beyond ETFs to the wider altcoin ecosystem.
“Solana is now ready to attract substantial capital, and its ETF could serve as a catalyst for more institutional engagement across decentralized finance, tokenized assets, and multi-asset ETFs,” Lee explained.
Historically, crypto-based ETFs have had a significant impact on their underlying assets. For instance, following the launch of US spot Bitcoin ETFs, about 75% of new capital flowed into Bitcoin, helping it surpass the $50,000 mark in mid-February. Similarly, first-year inflows for US spot Bitcoin ETFs totaled $36.2 billion, while Ether ETFs drew $8.64 billion.
Based on these adoption patterns, JPMorgan predicts the Solana ETF could attract between $3 billion and $6 billion, while a potential XRP ETF may bring in $4 billion to $8 billion in new investment.
