Solana (SOL) Futures ETFs to Debut, May Pave the Way for Spot Solana ETFs

The crypto industry is set to debut the first Solana futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), a significant development that may pave the way for the first Solana spot ETF

Industry insiders are eagerly anticipating the debut of the first Solana futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is set to launch on March 20. This development may pave the way for the first Solana spot ETF, seen as the “next logical step” for crypto-based trading products.

As previously reported by Blockworks, Volatility Shares will be listing two Solana (SOL) futures ETFs—the Volatility Shares Solana ETF (SOLZ) and the Volatility Shares 2X Solana ETF (SOLT)—on March 20.

This launch could bring significant new institutional adoption for the SOL token, according to Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research.

Volatility Shares Solana ETF SEC filing. Source: SEC

The analyst told Cointelegraph:

The Solana ETF will grow institutional adoption by “offering a regulated investment vehicle, attracting billions in capital and reinforcing Solana’s competitiveness against Ethereum,” said Lee, adding that “Ethereum’s entrenched ecosystem remains a formidable barrier.”

However, other industry participants are concerned that the Solana futures ETF will lead to investor disappointment due to a lack of inflows, as we’ve seen with the spot Ether ETF launch, which was only a “sidekick” to Bitcoin ETFs in terms of inflows, according to Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas.

Solana futures ETF may see disappointing inflows, but spot Solana ETFs may be next

While the futures ETF may not bring significant inflows, it legitimizes Solana’s status as a top cryptocurrency, especially after US President Donald Trump announced that his Working Group on Digital Assets would include Solana in the US crypto strategic reserve, along with Cardano’s (ADA) token and XRP (XRP).

“Solana ETFs are in motion creating the possible avenues for more wide-scale adoption,” according to Anmol Singh, co-founder of Bullet, a Solana-native perpetual futures decentralized exchange.

Singh told Cointelegraph:

“We can expect moderate inflows into the futures ETF - spot ETF is generally a better instrument for getting exposure and that will be the major milestone,” he added.

Trump-linked WLFI triples Ether holdings, Solana sees $485M outflows: Finance Redefined

According to a JPMorgan report, the adoption rate of futures ETFs is difficult to measure, but a spot Solana ETF may attract between $3 billion to $6 billion of net assets in the first six months, eclipsing the adoption rate of Ether ETFs.

SOL and XRP ETPs could attract $3–8 billion. Source: JP Morgan

“When applying these so-called ‘adoption rates’ to SOL and XRP, we see SOL attracting roughly $3 billion-$6 billion of net assets and XRP gathering $4 billion-$8 billion in net new assets,” the report stated.

However, “the timeline could extend into 2026 due to the SEC’s precedent of taking […] 240–260 days to review filings,” James Seyffart, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, said on Jan. 16.