Crypto investor and CNBC ‘Fast Money’ trader Brian Kelly has stirred up a discussion about the possibility of a Solana (SOL) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. Kelly made this prediction on the CNBC show ‘Fast Money’ on May 22, just a day before the Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision on a proposed spot Ether (ETH) ETF. Kelly, who is also the founder and CEO of the BKCM Digital Asset Fund, asked, “The trade now is, who’s next?”
However, not everyone agrees with Kelly’s prediction. Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, believes that a spot Solana ETF will not exist until a Chicago Mercantile Exchange-traded Solana futures product is listed or until Congress establishes a legitimate cryptocurrency regulatory framework. Currently, only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) futures have been approved in the U.S.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart shares Geraci’s view, stating that a spot Solana ETF would likely be available “within a few years” of having a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated market. Seyffart also believes that a spot Solana ETF would have more demand than any other digital asset apart from Bitcoin and Ether. However, he also notes that Solana has been flagged as a security by Gary Gensler and the SEC in previous Coinbase and Kraken lawsuits, which could complicate matters for future applicants.
Contrary to Kelly’s prediction, Adam Cochran, a partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, believes that either Litecoin (LTC) or Dogecoin (DOGE) will be the next coins to be included in a spot ETF. Cochran argues that while there may be lower demand for these coins, the paths to including them in an ETF are clearer. Both Litecoin and Dogecoin use a proof-of-work consensus mechanism, similar to Bitcoin.
Although few ETF issuers have shown interest in filing for a spot Solana ETF, Franklin Templeton, a trillion-dollar asset management firm, recently praised Solana and one of its founders, Anatoly Yakovenko. This has sparked speculation about whether the firm will consider filing a spot Solana ETF application in the future. Additionally, Bitwise’s chief investment officer, Matt Hougan, predicts that Solana will be the “crypto asset of 2024” and has explored real-world use cases on the network for institutional investors.
In related news, the CEO of Trezor, a cryptocurrency hardware wallet, has warned that Bitcoin ETFs could make Coinbase a target for hackers and governments.