**Updated February 12, 2025: Franklin Templeton Registers Solana Trust**
Asset management firm Franklin Templeton has recently registered a trust linked to a Solana spot ETF in Delaware, USA. This move is seen as a significant step towards the group’s active preparation for launching a Solana ETF.
Solana is currently one of the top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with a market value of $97 billion, highlighting its importance and influence in the market.
Several institutions have already submitted applications for Solana spot ETFs to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including Grayscale Investments, Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Funds.
The official documents do not specify which exchange the ETF will be listed on; however, Franklin’s Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs are currently listed on the Cboe BZX exchange.
The original text from February 11, 2025, follows.
**What Happened?**
Bloomberg analysts believe that the SEC has a 90% likelihood of approving a spot Litecoin ETF this year, primarily because its S-1 and 19b-4 forms have been confirmed, and the SEC may view it as a commodity.
In addition to Litecoin, ETF applications for Ripple, Solana, and Dogecoin are also underway, and analysts expect a high probability of approval in 2025. This wave of ETF enthusiasm is related to the successful launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, as well as Trump’s friendly stance towards cryptocurrencies.
The U.S. government’s position on cryptocurrencies has shifted towards support, but XRP and Solana still face regulatory challenges. XRP must await the outcome of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple, while the securities status of Solana also needs to be clarified.
**Bloomberg Analysts: High Probability of Litecoin ETF Approval**
Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas believe that the likelihood of the SEC approving a spot Litecoin ETF this year is as high as 90%. They are also optimistic about other cryptocurrency ETF applications, including those for Ripple (XRP), Solana, and Dogecoin, with expected approval probabilities of 65%, 70%, and 75% for 2025, respectively.
**NEW:** @EricBalchunas and I took a look at the filings for spot crypto ETFs. We’re putting out relatively high odds of approval across the board. Mainly focused on Litecoin, Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin for now.
Here’s the table with the odds and some other details: — James Seyffart (@JSeyff) February 10, 2025
The approval of cryptocurrency ETFs is expected to have significant impacts on the market and investors. It not only lowers the investment threshold, allowing more people to access cryptocurrencies, but also provides traditional investors with more diversified investment options.
Through ETFs, investors can participate in the market more conveniently and securely without the need to manage wallets and trades themselves. Additionally, investors expect that the approval of ETFs will promote market development, increase market awareness, and strengthen market regulation, thereby driving the overall development of the cryptocurrency industry.
Since their launches in January and July 2024, net inflows into Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs have reached $40.7 billion and $3.18 billion, respectively. With the successful launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs and Trump’s friendly attitude towards cryptocurrencies, many experts and investors are actively monitoring the next wave of potential cryptocurrency ETF applications.
Due to the submission and confirmation of the S-1 and 19b-4 forms for Litecoin, and the SEC potentially viewing it as a commodity, it is the cryptocurrency most likely to gain approval among this batch of applications.
Although James Seyffart believes that the attractiveness of a Litecoin ETF may not be as strong as that of Bitcoin and Ethereum in previous years, he stated that for the issuing company, an inflow of $50 million would still be quite worthwhile.
**Final Decision Deadlines This Year: Is the Era of Large ETFs Coming?**
The final decision deadlines for the SEC on the applications for Litecoin, Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin ETFs will fall between October 2 and October 18. James Seyffart indicated that the Litecoin ETF could potentially launch before this deadline.
Additionally, Canary Capital and 21Shares have also submitted ETF applications for Hedera (HBAR) and Polkadot (DOT), but analysts have not assessed their chances of approval.
James Seyffart predicts that more cryptocurrency ETFs will be proposed in the future, and ETF issuers in the U.S. may even adopt a “netting” strategy, launching various products to see which ones gain market traction.
He believes that in the long term, there may be a large number of ETFs holding digital assets in the market, while those that fail to attract attention or capital inflows may be liquidated.
Balchunas pointed out that the chances of approval for other cryptocurrency ETFs, apart from Litecoin, were below 5% before the U.S. presidential election. However, following Trump’s election, the U.S. government’s stance has shifted to being more supportive of cryptocurrencies, indicating that previous regulatory barriers hindering the development of the digital asset industry may be eliminated.
**Regulatory Environment Changes, But XRP and Solana Still Face Challenges**
Despite a more favorable regulatory environment, there are still issues that need to be resolved for XRP and Solana.
James Seyffart forecasts that XRP’s ETF is unlikely to be approved until the SEC’s lawsuit with Ripple is fully resolved. Ripple won a partial victory in August 2023, with the court ruling that XRP does not constitute a security when sold on the secondary market. However, the SEC appealed this ruling, claiming that Ripple violated securities laws when selling XRP to retail investors. Currently, Ripple hopes that the new SEC leadership will withdraw this case.
Furthermore, Solana’s securities status also needs to be resolved for the SEC to analyze it under the “commodity ETF” framework.
Regardless, analysts believe that the likelihood of multiple cryptocurrency ETFs gaining SEC approval is increasing, reflecting the growing market demand for digital asset investment products and the potential changes in the regulatory environment.
Referential Sources: Cointelegraph, The Block