The first US Solana staking ETF has wrapped up its opening session with significant momentum.
The new fund attracted $12 million in inflows and closed the day with $33 million in trading volume, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
SSK Outperforms Solana, XRP Futures Volume
Trading under the ticker SSK on the Cboe BZX Exchange, the REX-Osprey Solana Staking ETF is the first of its kind in the United States, providing direct exposure to spot Solana while allowing investors to capture staking yields.
This product’s debut comes amid rising interest in crypto-related ETFs but was marked by a performance gap compared to the blockbuster first-day volumes seen with spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs earlier this year.
In a recent tweet, Balchunas noted that SSK’s launch surpassed the volumes of Solana and XRP futures ETFs and even outpaced the typical ETF launch. Despite this, the fund remained significantly below the $4.6 billion first-day trading activity recorded by spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024.
The ETF’s structure has allowed it to move forward without the standard 19b-4 filing process, utilizing the Investment Company Act of 1940. This approach was made possible by allocating at least 40% of its assets to other exchange-traded products, primarily outside the US, following prior regulatory pushbacks from the SEC regarding the product’s qualification under securities laws.
As such, Anchorage Digital has been tasked with serving as the ETF’s staking and custodian partner.
SSK Off To A “Healthy Start”
Bloomberg’s James Seyffart described the opening as a “healthy start,” noting that $8 million worth of shares traded hands within the first 20 minutes.
This trading debut may provide insight into institutional appetite for a potential spot Solana ETF in the country, which analysts believe could receive approval later this year. Balchunas and Seyffart have recently assessed a 95% probability for such approvals before year-end, reflecting optimism in the broader market despite current subdued volumes in spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs.
This launch represents a significant development in the cryptocurrency investment landscape, with the potential to reshape how institutional investors engage with blockchain technology and its associated assets.
