Solana staking exchange-traded funds have a promising future on conventional inventory exchanges after Bitwise’s fund debut on the New York Inventory Alternate surpassed $56 million in first-day buying and selling quantity.
Matt Hougan, Bitwise chief funding officer, described the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) as “the lacking a part of the puzzle” in dialog with Cointelegraph’s Chain Response every day present, because the product attracted hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in funding on the NYSE.
So, @BitwiseInvest Solana Staking ETF totalled $56M in buying and selling quantity after its debut on @NYSE 💰
As @EricBalchunas reported, it is the most important ETF debut in 2026.@Matt_Hougan described $BSOL as “the lacking a part of the puzzle”.
This is why @solana staking ETFs WILL appeal to… pic.twitter.com/syFGy6Dwm9
— Gareth Jenkinson (@gazza_jenks) October 29, 2025
Hougan mentioned that till this level, traders stood to achieve extra by proudly owning Solana in ways in which allowed them to immediately stake the asset and earn yield than spend money on an ETF or product that didn’t permit for staking.
“As soon as you place it into an ETF, you get all the good issues about an ETF. Extraordinarily low prices, institutional custody. You should buy it in your brokerage account. It is push-button straightforward. And also you get that staking carried out for you,” Hougan mentioned.
“I feel it’ll change into one of many main ways in which individuals spend money on Solana, globally. I feel it is that massive a deal.”
Traders need custody AND staking yield
Hougan unpacked the distinction between typical crypto ETFs like Bitcoin and Ethereum merchandise, which primarily give traders publicity to the underlying asset. Staking ETFs have a twofold profit for traders, as Hougan defined.
“In order an investor in one thing like $BSOL, not solely are you getting the returns of Solana, however yearly you get someplace round 7% of extra Solana on high of that. For a TradFi investor, it’s somewhat bit like a dividend in an oversimplified sense.”
Hougan mentioned the product additionally helps decentralize and safe the Solana community. The $BSOL ETF launched $222 million in property, amounting to over 1.1 million SOL tokens.
Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported that Bitwise’s SOL staking ETF had the biggest buying and selling quantity of any ETF on debut in 2025.
Regulatory change made Solana staking ETFs potential
Hougan additionally credited a regulatory U-turn within the US as a catalyst for the eventual greenlight for Solana staking ETFs. Throughout Gary Gensler’s time period on the helm of the SEC, Bitcoin and Ether ETFs took years to get the regulatory inexperienced gentle.
The Bitwise government mentioned that Solana staking ETFs wouldn’t have been “even remotely potential” if there had not been a major change in angle towards the cryptocurrency sector from US regulators.
“Even simply Solana unstaked was unimaginable, proper? We barely bought Ethereum via the Gary Gensler pinhole,” Hougan mentioned. “And there was no method you have been going to get the rest via that pinhole. After which so as to add staking on high of it, staking is extra advanced.”
Associated: Bitwise SOL staking ETF debuts with $223M property, reveals sturdy institutional demand
He mentioned quite a few complexities additionally stumped regulators, together with liquidity and tax implications. Nonetheless, the launch of BSOL and Grayscale’s Solana Belief ETF (GSOL) may effectively open the door for different TradFi funding merchandise linked to proof-of-stake protocols.
“Not solely have we carried out it now, however this additionally opens the door for a wide range of different ETPs to launch which have staking as effectively. So this is sort of a main proof-of-concept within the historical past of crypto ETPs within the US.”
Journal: Solana vs Ethereum ETFs, Fb’s affect on Bitwise: Hunter Horsley
