Grayscale's SOL and LTC ETF Filings Acknowledged by SEC, Setting October 11 Deadline for Decision

There's some exciting news for SOL holders as the SEC has acknowledged Grayscale's filings for SOL and LTC ETFs. This development sets a deadline for the SEC to make a decision by October 11.

Grayscale’s filings for SOL and LTC ETFs have been acknowledged by the SEC, setting a deadline for the Commission to make a decision by October 11. However, due to pending litigation regarding SOL’s status as a security, SOL ETFs are expected to begin trading later in the year or early next year. This delay will prevent a large institutional influx into SOL until the matter is resolved.

Several other ETF applications have also been filed, including CBOE’s filing for an XRP ETF (backed by Bitwise and WisdomTree), as well as DOGE ETFs from Rex Shares and Bitwise. In contrast to SOL, the DOGE ETFs could be listed as early as mid-Q2, potentially leading to a resurgence in meme coins.

Options market anticipates $5.5K price target for EthereumOptions markets show a 15% chance of ETH reaching over $5.5K by year-end, up from 14% last week, and a 20% chance it falls below $1,700, down from 22% last week.

“We expect ETH’s monthly implied volatility (IV) to stay in the 65-70% range, as no major announcements are expected this week,” said Nick Forster, founder of the onchain options platform Derive.xyz. “For BTC, the chances of it reaching $200K by December 26 have risen slightly to 12%, up from 11% last week. Moreover, there’s a 15% chance of BTC exceeding $135K by the end of Q2, up from 14%.”

Forster predicts an 18% chance that Solana hits $300 at the end of Q1, with a 10% chance of surpassing $360. On the other hand, there’s a 20% chance of SOL dipping below $160 at the end of Q1.

Solana upgrades to be gradually priced into the marketThe ETH Foundation is ramping up its efforts as ETH’s market share has slipped to 10%, down from 17% last year. But despite this decline, there are promising signs of recovery on the horizon.

ETH’s recent network upgrade to increase the maximum gas per block by 20%, from 30M to 36M, will speed up transaction processing and lower costs, ultimately encouraging greater network utilization.

Furthermore, the upcoming Pectra upgrades, set for testing this month and implementation in March, will drastically improve scalability, reduce fees, and enhance the user experience. Features like ERC-20 token gas payments, account abstraction, and transaction batching will lower transaction costs and make the network more efficient for both traders and stakers.

Meanwhile, the ETH Foundation’s recent transfer of 50,000 ETH (worth about $130m) into a multisig wallet suggests their intention to participate actively in DeFi, further supporting the ecosystem’s growth. With CBOE BZX and NYSE filing to list ETH spot ETF options, ETH could see more institutional involvement, following BTC’s success with ETF options, which has moderated volatility.

With these upgrades and developments, ETH remains a strong long-term play for bulls.