The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently made headlines for rejecting Solana (SOL)-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications in the final weeks of Gary Gensler’s tenure as the regulator’s chair. According to Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, citing unnamed sources, the SEC has informed at least two of the five SOL ETF applicants that their filings will not be approved. Additionally, Terrett reports that the current SEC administration has no intentions of approving any of the remaining applications.
Several financial firms, including VanEck, 21Shares, Canary Capital, Bitwise, and crypto asset manager Grayscale, have all submitted applications to offer SOL ETFs. Grayscale, in particular, recently applied to convert its Solana Trust into a spot exchange-traded fund. Despite the rejections, Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, predicts that these firms will reapply under the new SEC regime next year, stating, “This was [Gensler’s] parting gift I guess.”
Gary Gensler announced his decision to step down as SEC chair in January, coinciding with the inauguration day of the president-elect. During his tenure, Gensler oversaw high-profile enforcement actions against numerous crypto firms, including Binance, Kraken, Coinbase, Ripple Labs, Uniswap Labs, and Consensys. In his place, former SEC Commissioner and current Patomak Partners chief executive Paul Atkins has been selected to lead the regulatory agency.
Looking ahead, Atkins has expressed interest in the growing trend of Americans investing in crypto assets for their retirement plans. In a letter penned in 2022 while at Patomak, Atkins highlighted the increasing familiarity of Americans with crypto assets and their potential interest in including them in their retirement portfolios.
As the SEC undergoes a leadership transition, the crypto industry continues to navigate regulatory challenges and seek approval for innovative financial products such as SOL ETFs. Stay tuned for updates on the evolving regulatory landscape and the future of crypto investments.