SEC’s October 10 Deadline Looms: Will Altcoin ETFs Finally Get the Green Light?
The clock's ticking—regulators have until October 10 to decide whether altcoin ETFs break free or get shackled by bureaucracy.
Why it matters: This could flood crypto markets with institutional cash... or leave traders stuck with the usual speculative casino.
Between the lines: Wall Street's waiting to see if the SEC treats crypto like a real asset class—or just lets bankers keep collecting fees on futures contracts instead.
Solana ETF applicants demand equal footing
According to reports, the SEC has no plans to wait for approvals until October. This follows the Rex Shares product that got approved last week. The stance is unsurprising following the Trump crypto stance and his involvement in the industry.
The SEC has historically been careful to avoid giving one issuer a first-mover advantage in the crypto ETF space. When Bitcoin and ethereum ETFs were greenlit, the Commission synchronized approvals across multiple filers to level the playing field. Now that SSK has a head start, other Solana ETF applicants demand equal footing, and the SEC appears to be listening.
SSK started trading last week, becoming the first Solana staking fund on the market. This gave it a first-mover advantage over the potential remaining Solana ETFs. The Commission had no choice but to green-light it as it falls under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and therefore, received automatic approval unless stopped by the SEC.
As a start, it saw $33 million worth of trades and $12 million inflows. This was marked as a “healthy start to trading” by Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. He observed that it had seen $8 million in trading volume in the first 20 minutes.
If the Solana ETFs are approved in August or September, as some expect, that could trigger a second wave of crypto FOMO in the traditional markets.
The odds of BlackRock forsaking altcoins ETFs
The spot Solana ETFs would be the third kind of spot crypto funds on the US market after the approval of the spot Ether and Bitcoin funds. Other outstanding applications include funds tracking the price of XRP, Dogecoin, and Litecoin, among others.
The second most anticipated ETF was the XRP ETF. However, Nate Geraci, President of the ETF Store, says that BlackRock might change its mind about not going after other crypto exchange-traded funds besides Bitcoin and Ethereum once the SEC case against Ripple is over.
Geraci’s remarks came after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the firm was dropping its cross-appeal in the SEC case. The company thought the SEC would also drop its appeal, ending the long court drama.
While BlackRock has yet to throw its hat in the ring to launch a spot XRP ETF, at least seven applications from issuers like Bitwise, Canary Capital, Franklin Templeton, and Grayscale are sitting on the regulator’s desk, according to Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst James Seyffart.
In June, Seyffart and another Bloomberg ETF Analyst, Eric Balchunas, said the chances of the SEC accepting these applications were 85%. But these chances are 89% on Polymarket, down from 98.2% on June 3.
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