SEC has until October 10 to approve or deny altcoin ETFs

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is pushing toward altcoin exchange-traded funds, especially for Solana. In a clear sign of its evolving stance, the SEC has asked issuers to amend and refile their S‑1 applications for spot SOL ETFs by the end of July. This deadline aligns with a faster, more structured approval process.

The SEC has until October 10 to approve or deny such a fund. According to reports, the SEC wants to accelerate the process and approve one or more of the funds way ahead of that deadline.

The first public message from the SEC about these possible products was made in June. The regulation entity included language for in-kind redemption and creation as well as staking. The filings were made by the Canary Marinade Solana ETF, 21Shares Core Solana ETF, and Bitwise Solana ETF, among others.

Solana ETF applicants demand equal footing

According to reports, the SEC has no plans to wait for approvals until October. This follows the Rex Shares product that got approved last week. The stance is unsurprising following the Trump crypto stance and his involvement in the industry. 

The SEC has historically been careful to avoid giving one issuer a first-mover advantage in the crypto ETF space. When Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs were greenlit, the Commission synchronized approvals across multiple filers to level the playing field. Now that SSK has a head start, other Solana ETF applicants demand equal footing, and the SEC appears to be listening.

SSK started trading last week, becoming the first Solana staking fund on the market. This gave it a first-mover advantage over the potential remaining Solana ETFs. The Commission had no choice but to green-light it as it falls under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and therefore, received automatic approval unless stopped by the SEC.

As a start, it saw $33 million worth of trades and $12 million inflows. This was marked as a “healthy start to trading” by Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. He observed that it had seen $8 million in trading volume in the first 20 minutes.

If the Solana ETFs are approved in August or September, as some expect, that could trigger a second wave of crypto FOMO in the traditional markets. 

The odds of BlackRock forsaking altcoins ETFs

The spot Solana ETFs would be the third kind of spot crypto funds on the US market after the approval of the spot Ether and Bitcoin funds. Other outstanding applications include funds tracking the price of XRP, Dogecoin, and Litecoin, among others.

The second most anticipated ETF was the XRP ETF. However, Nate Geraci, President of the ETF Store, says that BlackRock might change its mind about not going after other crypto exchange-traded funds besides Bitcoin and Ethereum once the SEC case against Ripple is over.

Geraci’s remarks came after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the firm was dropping its cross-appeal in the SEC case. The company thought the SEC would also drop its appeal, ending the long court drama.

While BlackRock has yet to throw its hat in the ring to launch a spot XRP ETF, at least seven applications from issuers like Bitwise, Canary Capital, Franklin Templeton, and Grayscale are sitting on the regulator’s desk, according to Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst James Seyffart.

In June, Seyffart and another Bloomberg ETF Analyst, Eric Balchunas, said the chances of the SEC accepting these applications were 85%. But these chances are 89% on Polymarket, down from 98.2% on June 3.

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