Fidelity Revs Up Solana ETF Engine - SEC Filing Amendments Signal Imminent Launch

Wall Street's crypto embrace accelerates as Fidelity fine-tunes its Solana ETF paperwork.

The Regulatory Dance

Fidelity just dropped updated S-1 documents for its spot Solana ETF - the kind of bureaucratic shuffle that typically happens right before regulators give the green light. They're crossing t's, dotting i's, and probably adding enough legal disclaimers to make your eyes glaze over.

Why This Matters

When a trillion-dollar asset manager like Fidelity starts polishing its crypto offerings, institutions start paying attention. This isn't some fly-by-night operation - it's the same company that manages your aunt's retirement account suddenly getting cozy with Solana.

The Institutional Floodgates

Remember when Bitcoin ETFs opened the floodgates? Solana's about to get the same treatment. Traditional finance meets decentralized speed - with all the paperwork and fees that make bankers sleep well at night.

Because nothing says financial innovation like waiting six months for regulators to approve what crypto natives have been doing for years.

Fidelity seeks to stake 100% of its SOL holdings

Fidelity’s fourth amendment of its filing details specifics on how the spot Solana ETF WOULD operate. According to the filing, Fidelity plans to stake almost 100% of the fund’s Solana holdings. The initiative would delegate the firm’s SOL holdings to a network of secure validators to help run the blockchain network, which would generate an annual yield of roughly 7% for investors. 

According to the S-1 registration, Fidelity plans to create a custom pricing index. The firm also confirmed that only a small amount of SOL tokens will be kept in a liquid state to manage daily fund activities.

The filing signals Fidelity’s commitment to launch the ETF while engaging with regulatory requirements. The fund would provide investors with exposure to Solana through traditional brokerage accounts, thereby increasing accessibility and liquidity.

The initiative comes as Fidelity added Solana trading to its suite of crypto products earlier last week. The move expands SOL trading to Fidelity Crypto, Fidelity Crypto for IRAs, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Fidelity Crypto for Wealth Managers. The introduction of Solana trading aims to give both institutional and retail investors access to the digital asset.

Fidelity explained last Thursday that Solana is a blockchain that processes about 60,00 transactions per minute on average. The firm compared it with Bitcoin’s 250 transactions per minute and Ethereum’s 800 transactions per minute. The firm also compared Solana’s transaction fee, which is just fractions of a cent, to Bitcoin and Ethereum, which cost around 50 cents per transaction.

Fidelity’s filing follows a larger coordinated push by asset managers to launch altcoin specific ETFs. Firms like VanEck and Grayscale have also recently updated their own ETF filings to include staking.

The temporary federal government shutdown in early October unexpectedly made the approval process smoother. The shutdown triggered an automatic approval process for certain pending ETFs, which also paved the way for non-Bitcoin ETFs to MOVE forward without a final vote from the SEC.

Other firms launch their Solana ETFs

Bitwise launched its Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, making it the first Solana spot ETF. The fund experienced a surge in demand after its launch, attracting approximately $69.5 million in net inflows. 

The huge demand made the Bitwise spot Solana ETF the strongest debut for any ETF in 2025. The fund’s trading volume also surpassed $56 million in just the first 4 hours after launch. 

“Institutional investors love ETFs, and they love revenue.”

-Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise.

Grayscale followed by converting its existing Solana trust into an ETF (GSOL) on Tuesday. The ETF became the first of the firm’s staking products to list under the SEC-approved listing standards. GSOL holds 525,387 SOL tokens, with 74.89% currently allocated for staking initiatives.

The SEC made amendments in its ruling in August 2025, which declared that liquid staking activities in connection with protocol staking do not involve the offer and sale of securities. The ruling allowed ETFs to use their token holdings to manage liquidity without facing regulatory issues.

The SEC also recently approved the 21Shares Solana Spot ETF in the U.S. after clearing its FORM 8-A filing. The approval will enable the fund to trade on a major U.S. exchange.

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