Franklin Templeton enters the solana ETF race

The asset manager continues its growth into the crypto space.

2/12/25 1:10PM

Franklin Templeton is the latest firm joining the enthusiastic crew aiming for altcoin ETFs. On February 10, the firm registered a solana trust in Delaware, indicating that it could soon follow with an ETF filing with the SEC.

The firm, with $1.5 trillion in assets under management including $594 million worth of tokenized Treasuries, joins the likes of Bitwise, Grayscale, Rex Osprey, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital in the race for a Solana ETF.

Solana is the sixth-largest crypto by market cap, at $95.8 billion, according to CoinGecko, and is the blockchain behind many meme coins, such as $TRUMP.

“The solana ecosystem has grown in leaps and bounds over the past year, and the fees generated by the network have drawn a lot of attention,” Sid Powell, CEO and cofounder of Maple, said.

Further underscoring the mind-boggling race for solana ETFs, the SEC acknowledged four of them on February 11 — VanEck, Canary, 21Shares, and Bitwise — in what many experts view as an accelerated approval process.

Is a Solana Spot ETF on the horizon?

The SEC just acknowledged Spot $SOL ETF filings from Canary, VanEck, Bitwise, and 21Shares.

Meanwhile, Franklin Templeton registered a Solana Trust in Delaware—setting the stage for another major filing.

With approval odds sitting at 83% by… pic.twitter.com/xQuG29kkeK
— Kyledoops (@kyledoops) February 12, 2025

Last week, the SEC also opened comments on the Grayscale solana ETF. But solana ETFs face some potential challenges, one of them being the classification of the underlying asset.

Notable bc this is the first time an ETF filing tracking a coin that had prev been called a "security" has been acknowledged by SEC. Only six weeks ago the Genz-led SEC told CBOE to withdrawal their Solana 19b-4. So we are now in new territory, albeit just a baby step, but… https://t.co/XiRyA8g3R7
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) February 6, 2025

“Concerns [for the SEC] include solana’s classification as a potential security and the lack of regulated futures markets for SOL, which has historically been a prerequisite for ETF approvals,” Alan Orwick, cofounder of Quai Network, said.

Whether these ETFs will be the first altcoin ETFs to be approved, only the regulatory gods know.

Chris Chung, founder of solana swap platform Titan, noted that solana and Ripple’s XRP are currently in a tug-of-war regarding which token gets the first approved ETF.

“While Ripple has perhaps a better story for retail investors who may have bought it in the previous bull cycle, solana has had a major endorsement from the launch of Trump’s meme coin,” he said. “So the chips could still fall either way.”

Chung added that overall, a solana ETF approval is very likely in 2025 and will be “a catalyst to position the asset as the chain for institutional inflows, especially due to the amount of trading activity happening.”

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy is a financial journalist who’s written for Dow Jones, The Financial Times Group, and Business Insider.

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New bitcoin AfterDark ETF will be bitcoin at night, Treasurys by day

Tidal Trust II submitted form N-1A with the SEC to register a bitcoin ETF designed to systemically capture the cryptocurrency’s overnight return profile, a time window that delivered a significant portion of bitcoin’s upside last year.

The Nicholas Bitcoin and Treasuries AfterDark ETF provides long bitcoin exposure during US overnight hours, from the closing bell until the following morning’s market open, when the fund intends to unwind its positions, according to a document filed with the SEC on Tuesday.

To gain that exposure, the ETF may use a number of methods, including bitcoin futures contracts, US-listed ETFs, or exchange-traded options on such bitcoin underlying funds. When the market is open and daytime trading is active, the fund’s portfolio will consist of US Treasury securities and other cash equivalents.

In 2024, most of bitcoin’s gains occurred after-hours, senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported:

We looked at this last year and found most of the gains are in fact after hours. Doesn't mean the ETFs aren't having impact. Some of this is positioning bc of the ETFs etc or derivatives based on flows etc etc. But yeah, bitcoin After Dark ETF could put up better reutrns, we'll… pic.twitter.com/BTpV51cQfl
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 9, 2025

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