VanEck Presses for Solana ETF Despite Cboe Setback

“Despite recent challenges to Solana’s survival, asset manager VanEck remains committed to launching a Solana-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF).”

There was a period of uncertainty after Cboe Global Markets withdrew the regulatory file that suggested listing the fund from its website.

Removal of Cboe Filings

Head of VanEck’s digital assets research, Matthew Sigel, clarified in a recent X post that removing the filing does not mean the company’s aspirations are over.

Although he agreed that the VanEck Solana ETF‘s 19b-4 was removed from the CBOE website, he insisted that the product’s S-1 prospectus was still available. This suggests that the ETF is still active and the corporation is moving forward with its goals.

The Cboe-submitted, now-absent 19b-4 file from July 8 requested permission from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list the Solana ETFs VanEck and 21Shares were planning to launch.

Exchanges such as Nasdaq and Cboe manage these filings; issuers like VanEck are responsible for submitting S-1 prospectuses. However, on August 9, the file vanished from the Cboe website, giving rise to speculation regarding the ETFs’ whereabouts.

Summers, a co-founder of Synoptic, an intelligence network, noted in an X post dated August 17 that the filings had vanished and that the associated records could no longer be accessed due to Cboe’s impending rule changes.

The SEC’s inaction made him wonder if the 19b-4s had been completely removed.

Experts Question Approval of Solana ETF

General counsel at Van Buren Capital, Scott Johnsson, responded to the withdrawal with scepticism, speculating that the Solana ETF may be “dead on arrival” under Chair Gary Gensler’s current SEC leadership.

Johnsson surmised that because the regulator thought Solana wasn’t a commodity, it might have identified the submissions as incorrectly classified. This might account for the absence of an official agency disapproving letter if accurate.

Johnsson’s worries were acknowledged by Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store, who saw the events as clear evidence that a Solana ETF is unlikely to be approved under the existing regulatory framework.

VanEck continues to be dedicated to its Solana ETF idea despite these obstacles. Sigel restated the company’s stance that Solana is a commodity, much like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

He pointed out that this viewpoint is supported by changing legal views, with certain regulators and courts acknowledging that some crypto assets may function as securities in primary markets but more as commodities in secondary markets.

Sigel said, “We are still dedicated to promoting this stance to the relevant authorities alongside our exchange partners.”