Is BlackRock submitting a Solana ETF at the last minute?

Following Ethereum, Solana's price continues north and breaks through the $180 level.

Following Ethereum, Solana's price keeps heading north and breaks through the $180 mark. Still, advises ETF analyst James Seyffart of Bloomberg against BlackRock jumping in, even though many crypto investors crave a SOL ETF. "That would be a total miss," Seyffart said in a conversation with Nate Geraci, president of NovaDius. They discussed a hypothetical scenario where the world's largest asset manager would file for a Solana ETF at the last moment.

Smaller players like VanEck, 21Shares and Bitwise took that step months ago. Solana is broadly viewed as the most likely candidate for the next US spot ETF, with an estimated 99 percent chance for 2025 on Polymarket. As of writing, Solana is trading at $181.20, up 0.5% from yesterday and 12.8% higher than a week ago.

According to Seyffart, an iShares Solana ETF "should not happen." His reason: "These smaller issuers have spent a lot of time coordinating with the SEC to get their paperwork in order." He says it would be "unfair" if BlackRock steps in at the last moment. On the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF space, BlackRock, led by Larry Fink, remains far and away the top with net inflows of $57.8 billion and $9.7 billion respectively.

The recent SOL rally was fueled not only by hopes for SEC approval but also by new firms that are including Solana in their treasuries. For example, Upexi recently announced a SOL purchase worth about $200 million.

BlackRock itself recently denied that it was preparing a SOL or XRP ETF. According to Seyffart, that poses no risk for the asset manager, since 90 percent of the total crypto market cap is already represented by Bitcoin and Ethereum.