Outside Source
Franklin Templeton has registered a “Franklin Solana Trust” in Delaware, indicating it may soon file for a spot Solana ETF alongside a host of other bidding issuers.
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Asset manager Franklin Templeton has registered a trust in Delaware tied to a proposed spot Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) — indicating that it may soon look to launch the fund in the US.
A filing to Delaware’s corporate regulator shows the “Franklin Solana Trust” was formed on Feb. 10 by the CSC Delaware Trust Company, which has registered crypto trust products for other asset managers such as Bitwise.
To join the race for a Solana (SOL) ETF alongside Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares and Canary Capital, Franklin will need to file what’s known as a Form 19b-4 and a Form S-1 for the proposed ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Franklin’s Solana ETF registration. Source: Delaware Division of Corporations
Some asset managers who registered crypto trust products in Delaware submitted Form S-1 for their products to the SEC the following day.
If approved, the Franklin Solana Trust would seek to track the price movement of the world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency, which CoinGecko shows has a $97 billion market cap.
The filing didn’t state which exchange would list the ETF — however, Franklin’s spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) ETFs are both listed on the Cboe BZX exchange.
Franklin has shared strong praise for the Solana network and ecosystem on multiple occasions, pointing to its ability to overcome “technological growing pains” while showcasing the high-transaction throughput of monolithic blockchains in July.
Franklin also highlighted the strong growth in Solana’s decentralized finance apps and dominant memecoin activity six months earlier, in January 2024.
Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas said on Feb. 10 that the odds of an approved spot Solana ETF before the end of 2025 stood at 70%.
They added those odds increased astronomically on President Donald Trump’s election win in November.
However, Seyffart flagged last month that the status of Solana as a security will also need to be resolved before the SEC can analyze it under a “commodities ETF wrapper.”
SEC acknowledges several Solana ETF applications
On Feb. 11, the SEC notably acknowledged the Form 19b-4 filings for spot Solana ETFs lodged by 21Shares, Bitwise, Canary Capital and VanEck.
It had also acknowledged Grayscale’s Solana filing on Feb. 6 — a development Seyffart said was newsworthy as the SEC reportedly rejected several applications in December under former Chair Gary Gensler.
Related: Inside Trump’s crypto agenda: Memecoins, SEC task force and Bitcoin reserve plans
Financial services firm JPMorgan estimated an approved spot Solana ETF could attract between $3 billion and $6 billion in net assets over the first year — a prediction Balchunas said was a fairly “reasonable guess.”
Solana is currently trading at $198.5, down 1.5% over the last 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows.
Magazine: Solana ‘will be a trillion-dollar asset’: Mert Mumtaz, X Hall of Flame
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
