Share this article

Bitwise Joins Mounting Race for Solana ETF

Donald Trump's election win may be pressing fast-forward on once unheard-of propositions.

Updated Nov 21, 2024, 9:57 p.m. Published Nov 21, 2024, 9:55 p.m.
Matt Hougan, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer (Suzanne Cordiero/CoinDesk/Shutterstock)
Matt Hougan, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer (Suzanne Cordiero/CoinDesk/Shutterstock)

Crypto-investments firm Bitwise took a big jump Thursday toward offering a Solana exchange traded fund (ETF) in the United States.

Paperwork filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) makes Bitwise the fourth investments company vying to offer a Solana ETF, behind Canary Capital, which filed in October and VanEck and 21Shares which kicked off the race in June.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today. See all newsletters

Donald Trump's coming return to the White House has reset expectations for the crypto industry, making once far-off regulatory propositions more plausible. Current SEC Chair Gary Gensler is set to step down from the agency on Jan. 20, when Trump is sworn into office.

One of those propositions is that SOL — the fuel for transacting on Solana in much the same way that ETH is on Ethereum — could soon be wrapped in an ETF for easy trading by Wall Street investors.

Read more: Solana ETF Applications Look Like Bets on Trump Retaking White House, Making U.S. Friendlier to Crypto

Bitwise already offers a variety of ETFs tracking BTC and ETH, the two cryptoassets generally treated as commodities in the US. It also has shown a gambler's propensity for filing ETF applications over more controversial assets, such as XRP and now SOL.

Solana is one of the stars of this year's bull run as a hub for trading activity, especially among memecoin traders. Its SOL token is also knocking on the door of all-time highs not seen since late 2021, at the peak of the last great bull run.

Bitwise telegraphed its SOL ETF plans earlier this week with a corporate fining in Delaware. Chief Investments Officer Matt Hougan confirmed the filing's legitimacy but declined to comment further.

The crypto-investments company markets heavily to registered investment advisers in the US. It reported $5 billion in assets under management last month.

Cboe, Bitwise's exchange partner for the proposed product, published 19b-4 forms for all four applications on Thursday. Bitwise's S-1 form, another necessary piece of paperwork for the launch of an ETF, had not been published at press time

More For You

KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market

16:9 Image

KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.

What to know:

  • KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
  • This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
  • Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
  • Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
  • Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.

More For You

Crypto exchange WhiteBIT flagged by Russia as 'undesirable' over support for Ukraine military

Russia stablecoin milestone. (Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

WhiteBIT has actively supported Ukraine's war effort, donating $11 million to military initiatives and processing over $160 million in donations.

What to know:

  • Russia banned Ukrainian crypto exchange WhiteBIT, making any interaction with the company a criminal offense within Russian borders.
  • WhiteBIT has actively supported Ukraine's war effort, donating $11 million to military initiatives and processing over $160 million in donations.
  • The exchange has continued to grow, expanding to 8 million users and entering the U.S. market despite Russian pressure.