CoinDesk reported on Monday (July 1) that Bitcoin surged in the short term, breaking through $63,500 and rising over $1,200 within the day. 21Shares, a Switzerland-based asset management company, has submitted an application to list a Solana spot ETF in the United States. Wall Street giants have also taken action, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission receiving an application for a gold and bitcoin mixed ETF (STKD Bitcoin & Gold ETF).
CoinTelegraph reported that the proposed fund by 21Shares will be called the 21Shares Core Solana ETF and will not involve SOL token staking. The proposed ETF will trade on the CBOE BZX Exchange, with Coinbase serving as the fund’s Solana holdings custodian, which will be underwritten by private insurance. The fund’s assets will be held in a separate wallet on the Solana blockchain and will not participate in SOL validation or staking.
According to the submitted documents, 21Shares’ application is premised on Solana not being classified as a security under U.S. law. If the cryptocurrency is classified as a security by the U.S. SEC, 21Shares may withdraw its application. The withdrawal of the application is based on the possibility that 21Shares may not be willing to fulfill additional registration requirements.
Discussions around the Solana ETF have heated up following the approval of the Ethereum spot ETF by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. With the approval of eight Ethereum spot ETFs’ 19B-4 filings last month, the promotion of similar products has increased. If the factors that led to the approval of the Ethereum spot ETF by the U.S. SEC are applied, 21Shares and VanEck remain optimistic that the Solana ETF may also be approved.
21Shares is a Swiss company specializing in cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs), founded in 2018 and based in Zurich. The company has issued 40 crypto ETPs listed on 13 exchanges, with assets under management totaling $3.2 billion. Its most well-known product is the Bitcoin spot ETF (ARKB) in collaboration with Ark Investments, with current assets under management of $2.78 billion.
It is reported that 21Shares offers a diverse range of crypto products, including over 30 cryptocurrencies such as ADA, ARB, AAVE, and BNB. One of its recent products is the Toncoin staking exchange-traded product (ETP) launched on the SIX Exchange in Switzerland, known as TONN, which returns staking rewards to investors.
As early as 2021, 21Shares launched the Solana Staking ETP in Europe, with the code ASOL and assets under management of $810 million, fully backed by physical SOL tokens. The staking yield is currently 4.44%, providing individual investors with better protection than custody options. ASOL is currently listed on six exchanges in Europe, offering investment options in USD, GBP, EUR, and CHF.
On June 27, Wall Street asset management giant VanEck applied for the first Solana ETF in the United States, followed closely by 21Shares. Currently, the market’s view on the likelihood of approval for the Solana ETF is polarized. CBOE, which has listed several Bitcoin spot ETFs, believes that without first establishing a futures market or changing regulatory conditions, crypto ETFs outside of Bitcoin and Ethereum are unlikely to appear.
JPMorgan and Bloomberg also express doubts about the possibility of approval, but Bernstein believes that the approval of the Ethereum spot ETF will pave the way for similar tokens like Solana to be classified as commodities.
Both the 21Shares Core Solana ETF and VanEck Solana Trust have chosen to trade on the CBOE BZX Exchange. According to the company’s S-1 filing, the creation and redemption of the fund will be in cash, similar to other spot ETFs.
The emergence of a gold and bitcoin mixed ETF application
Asset management company Quantify Funds and ETF investment platform Tidal Investments jointly submitted a prospectus for a mixed ETF of bitcoin and gold to the U.S. SEC on June 26, named STKD Bitcoin & Gold ETF. The aim is to provide potential complementary benefits to investors by utilizing bitcoin and gold futures products, offering a more stable investment path.
According to the documents, the STKD Bitcoin & Gold ETF is an actively managed ETF aimed at providing investors with the opportunity to invest in both bitcoin and gold through U.S.-listed futures contracts and ETPs.
The ETF will invest in two complementary asset classes, namely bitcoin, also known as “digital gold,” and gold, considered a safe haven asset. Through the combination of these two nearly completely unrelated assets, the ETF hopes to reduce the impact of short-term market volatility on overall investment results, providing more stable investment returns.
Specifically, if the ETF has $10,000 in assets, it is expected to have $10,000 in bitcoin exposure and $10,000 in gold exposure. This is similar to investing $10,000 in a bitcoin strategy fund, borrowing $10,000, and then placing the borrowed $10,000 in a gold strategy fund.
However, it is worth noting that the ETF uses leverage and does not directly invest in physical bitcoin or gold. Additionally, the documents state that the expected listing date for the ETF is September 9, 2024, but neither the U.S. SEC nor the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have given their opinions on the matter, and details of the ETF code and related fees have not been disclosed.
Bitcoin technical analysis
CMTrade stated that the Bitcoin RSI is above the neutral zone of 50, the MACD is positive and above its signal line, and the configuration is positive.
In addition, the price is above its 20 and 50-period moving averages, which are $61,579 and $61,208, respectively. Finally, the Bitcoin/USD trading price is above its Bollinger Band upper limit at $61,909.
“$61,120 is our pivot point, and our preference is for the upward trend to continue as long as $61,120 provides support.”
“An alternative is a break of the downward trend at $61,120, which would point to $60,150 and $59,570.”