The crypto market responded with enthusiasm to the heightened expectations of a Solana ETF, as the price of Solana’s SOL surged 17% within 24 hours. The potential listings by VanEck and 21Shares, following Cboe’s filings with the SEC in July, sparked the optimism that has driven SOL’s market cap to over $85 billion, making it the fourth-largest token by market cap.
The positive market reaction is in part due to Donald Trump’s lead over Kamala Harris in the U.S. election, which has revived hopes for a swift approval of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for SOL. This political climate has rekindled the belief that a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment could soon be a reality under a potential Trump administration.
Syncracy Capital co-founder Daniel Cheung spoke to this sentiment, stating, “Markets are still heavily mispricing a republican sweep and upside for the industry is likely much higher than previously anticipated.” He further suggested that an SOL ETF is likely to happen in Q1 2025 and could position SOL to flip ETH and even trade at $1000.
Rennick Palley, founding partner at crypto venture fund Stratos, echoed these sentiments back in July, asserting that SOL was “poised to be the next token with an ETF.” Palley added that investors widely believe tokens “won’t be viewed as securities by the Trump admin.”
In the early days of July, the Cboe submitted 19b-4 filings with the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) for the listing of VanEck’s and 21Shares’ potential spot Solana ETFs, which were initially filed in late June.
SOL surged over $185 early Wednesday, flipping BNB Chain’s BNB to become the fourth-largest token behind bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and stablecoin USDT. BTC also experienced an 8.4% rise, while ETH added 6% in that period. The broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a liquid index of the largest tokens by market capitalization, rose by 7%.
Trading volumes crossed $8.8 billion in the past 24 hours, a significant increase from the $3.2 billion over the previous 24-hour period, according to Coingecko data.
This market surge came as Donald Trump edged closer to securing the U.S. presidency, leading in most key states and securing 240 out of the 270 electoral seats needed. A Trump victory is largely seen as a bullish sign for the industry’s long-term growth, where he is expected to ease crypto regulations and foster a more supportive business environment for entrepreneurs.
