First US spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Solana Hedera (HBAR) and began trading on Tuesday, opening a new door for investors seeking regulated exposure to crypto assets beyond bitcoin and ether.
If initial momentum holds, the Solana ETF alone could generate more than $3 billion in the first 12 to 18 months, according to James Seyffart, ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
“A good frame of reference is to look at the size of Solana relative to bitcoin and Ethereum,” Seyffart said. “Solana’s market cap is 5% of Bitcoin and 22% of Ethereum. If they keep up with the flows we’ve seen for the ETH and BTC ETFs on a relative basis, that would equate to over $3 billion in flows over the first 12 to 18 months. However, time will tell if they pull it off.”
Bitwise’s Solana ETF (BSOL) debuted on the New York Stock Exchange and traded $10 million in volume in its first 30 minutes, according to Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Balchunas. On Nasdaq, Canary Capital’s Hedera ETF (HBR) and Litecoin ETF (LTCC) recorded $4 million and $400,000, respectively.
Balchunas expects BSOL to reach $52 million in volume by the end of the day, with HBR and LTCC expected to reach $8 million and $7 million.
The funds were launched under the Securities Act of 1933, a regulatory structure commonly used for commodity-based ETFs. Unlike funds governed by the Investment Company Act of 1940, Act ’33 products do not require a board of directors or daily portfolio disclosure, making them the preferred format for single-asset crypto ETFs.
CoinDesk Indices provides price benchmarks for both HBR and LTCC.
For comparison, spot bitcoin ETFs generated $628 million in flows on their first day across multiple issuers. Spot ether ETFs recorded $106 million. Tuesday’s launch featured just one issuer per asset, but Grayscale’s Solana Trust, which the company filed to become an ETF, will begin trading on Wednesday.
Looking at the potential demand for HBAR and LTC, Seyffart added: “HBAR’s market cap is about 8% the size of Solana, while Litecoin is 7% of Solana. So it will probably be much smaller. Again, time will tell.”
