Franklin Templeton Joins 21Shares, Bitwise, Canary, VanEck in Solana ETF Race

Franklin Templeton is the latest asset manager to join the Solana ETF race after filing its registration documents for a Franklin Solana Trust in Delaware with the US Security Exchange Commission (SEC).

The CSC Delaware Trust Company, which also registered crypto trust products for other asset managers, helped Franklin to form its Franklin's Solana Trust.

Franklin Templeton has been bullish on Solana since July 2024. "Besides Bitcoin and Ethereum, there are other exciting and major developments that we believe will drive the crypto space forward," the asset manager said at the time.

"Solana has shown major adoption and continues to mature, overcoming technological growing pains and highlighting the potential of high-throughput, monolithic architectures.

Franklin Templeton's Bitcoin ETF, EZBC, is the eleventh largest by market cap, with $756.24 million in assets under management.

Earlier this month, Franklin Templeton filed for regulatory approval from the SEC launch a new crypto index ETF. According to the filing, Franklin Templeton's crypto index fund is currently limited to holding only Bitcoin and Ethereum.

However, the firm acknowledged the possibility of expanding its ETF’s asset pool if additional cryptocurrencies receive SEC approval, allowing the asset manager to adapt to regulatory developments and broaden its offerings.

Grayscale, Bitwise, Canary Capital, and VanEck filed for Solana ETFs last year, with Grayscale submitting theirs at the start of December. Bloomberg's Eric Balchunas believes the odds for a Solana ETF approval is 70% - slightly lower than Litecoin's 90% but higher than XRP's 65%.

He noted that these odds have risen sharply in recent months, particularly since Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.

“Keep in mind all of this stuff (except Litecoin, which was always high) was <5% prior to the election,” he said, pointing to shifting attitudes toward crypto regulation.

The SEC has opened the Solana ETFs to public comment, marking a step towards approvals.

"The SEC has done a big about-turn on the Solana ETF—from refusing to even entertain such an investment product to acknowledging Grayscale's amended SOL ETF application," Chris Chung, founder of Solana swap platform Titan explained.

The process initiates a 21-day review period during which the SEC may approve, reject, or extend the decision deadline.

"There's a good chance this will end up being a historic day for Solana in the same way January 10, 2024, was a historic day for Bitcoin," Chung added, stating that the ETF approval would "position Solana as the blockchain for mass adoption."