The launch of Solana (SOL) futures from the US derivative exchange Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) shows that the first list of US SOL Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) will soon be coming.
On March 17th, CME is preparing to launch a Sol Futures deal. They will become one of the first regulated Solana futures to hit the US market after Coinbase was launched in February.
The list “paves the way for the final approval of the Sol ETF,” Chung told Cointelegraph.
Chung said he hopes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will soon approve the Spot Solana ETF proposed by asset managers Vaneck and Canary Capital in May.
The presence of regulated Solana futures “signs regulators that Solana is mature as an asset, making it easier to greenlight additional financial products of similar risks and types,” Chong said.
A futures contract is a standardized contract for buying and selling underlying assets on future dates. The regulated futures market plays a key support role in the Spot Cryptocurrency ETF to provide a stable benchmark to measure the performance of digital assets.
CME has already listed futures contracts for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). US regulators approved ETFs for both of these cryptocurrencies last year.
CME has already listed crypto futures, including Bitcoin contracts. Source: CME
Related: CME Group Reports Record-Crypto Volumes for Q4
Beyond Meme Coin
Additionally, Solana Futures and ETFS will help expand Solana’s growth narrative beyond Memecoins, which was at the heart of the 2024 blockchain network success, Chung said.
These products “result in a more serious and sticky capital, paving the way for the development of other real-world use cases, such as payments and remittances,” Chung said.
These use cases are “more boring than (f) Memocoin, but are reliable sources of long-term revenues in favor of Solana’s price in the next bear market.”
According to Asset Manager’s Vaneck, MemeCoin Trading, which is primarily linked to the popular Pump.Fun platform, accounts for around 80% of Solana Blockchain Network’s revenue.
However, activity on the Solana Network fell in February after a series of Memocoin-related scandals exacerbated feelings among retailers.
Solana vs. Ethereum Price Chart. Source: TradingView
Rival Ethereum
Still, Solana’s cryptocurrency trading volume continues to rival those of the entire Ethereum ecosystem, including the Layer 2 scaling chain, Vaneck said on March 6th.
Chung said he hopes SolanaETF will take off among retail investors due to the challenges facing rival smart contract platform Ethereum.
According to TradingView, Solana’s native sol tokens have nearly doubled since early 2024, similar to about doubled ether.
Ethereum spot prices have been struggling since the network’s DenCun upgrade reduction transaction fees increased by around 95%.
“Due to the very weak price action seen in ETH, Solana is now the only option for retail investors who want to get into crypto beyond Bitcoin, but are willing to take it entirely,” Chong said.
Bloomberg Intelligence set the odds at 70% for SEC to approve the Spot Solana and Litecoin ETFs.
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