First U.S. spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Solana Hedera (HBAR) and began trading on Tuesday, opening a new door for investors seeking regulated exposure to crypto assets beyond bitcoin and ether.
If initial momentum continues, Solana’s ETF alone could raise more than $3 billion in the first 12 to 18 months, according to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart.
“A good frame of reference is to look at the size of Solana relative to Bitcoin and Ethereum,” Seyffart said. “Solana’s market cap is 5% of Bitcoin and 22% of Ethereum. If they follow the flows we’ve seen for ETH and BTC ETFs on a relative basis, that would equate to over $3 billion in flows over the first 12-18 months. Time will tell if they achieve this.”
Bitwise’s Solana ETF (BSOL) debuted on the New York Stock Exchange and traded $10 million in volume in its first 30 minutes, according to Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg Intelligence. On Nasdaq, Canary Capital’s Hedera (HBR) and Litecoin (LTCC) ETFs posted $4 million and $400,000, respectively.
Balchunas expects BSOL volume to reach $52 million by the end of the day, while HBR and LTCC are expected to reach $8 million and $7 million.
The funds were launched under the Securities Act of 1933, a regulatory structure commonly used for commodity-based ETFs. Unlike funds governed by the Investment Company Act of 1940, ’33 products do not require a board of directors or daily portfolio disclosure, making them a preferred format for single-asset crypto ETFs.
CoinDesk Indices provides pricing benchmarks for HBR and LTCC.
For comparison, spot bitcoin ETFs generated $628 million in flows on their first day from multiple issuers. Spot Ether ETFs brought in $106 million. Tuesday’s launch featured just one issuer per asset, but Grayscale’s Solana Trust, which the company has applied to convert into an ETF, is expected to begin trading on Wednesday.
Regarding the potential demand for HBAR and LTC, Seyffart added: “HBAR’s market cap is about 8% the size of Solana, while Litecoin’s is 7% of Solana. So it will likely be much smaller. Again, time will tell.”
