Solana News: Franklin Templeton Files for Solana ETF, Strengthening Presence in Digital Asset Space

In a significant move that underscores the growing institutional interest in digital assets, Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s largest asset managers, has submitted a filing with the SEC to list a Solana ETF on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) BZX Exchange. This comes just days after the firm submitted an application for an XRP ETF, positioning itself as a key player in the cryptocurrency market.

Franklin Templeton Makes History with Solana ETF Filing After XRP Application

Franklin Templeton, an asset management giant with over $1.5 trillion in assets under management, has submitted a 19b-4 filing with the SEC to list and trade shares of a proposed Solana ETF on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) BZX Exchange. This move solidifies Franklin Templeton’s position as a leading force in the digital asset space, coming just one day after the company submitted an application for an XRP ETF.

Swift Protocol Addresses DeFi Execution Issues

The DeFi trading experience often involves balancing cost and efficiency, with traders facing delays, slippage, and MEV extraction. Drift, the largest derivatives platform on Solana, aims to solve these problems with Swift Protocol. This new trading standard is designed to maximize execution speed, minimize slippage, and enable gasless trading across perpetuals and spot markets. Currently, onchain trades are scattered across AMMs, order books, and private market makers, leading to suboptimal execution. Swift Protocol consolidates these venues to improve the trading experience.

Solana Inflation Reform Effort Fails

A contentious effort to reform Solana’s high staking rewards and its generous inflation regime flopped on Thursday. Supporters of SIMD-0288 failed to garner the supermajority needed to implement the major economic change. The proposal aimed to replace Solana’s static inflation mechanics with a market-based system, potentially cutting the network’s annual staking rewards from 4.7% to 1% or less. The surprise result delivered a blow to the Solana power brokers who rallied for the change, as the opposition, mainly small-time operators who feared a big cut to their revenue, rallied hardest on the final voting day.

Will Solana Price Bounce Back Strong?

Solana (SOL) price made one of the most impressive comebacks in the crypto market in the last 2 years. The network, which faced downtime issues, has since become one of the most widely adopted blockchains of 2024. SOL rallied by over 1,500% from October 2023 lows to its January 2025 peak. However, it remains unclear if the market will extend the same support in 2025 or if the meme coin narrative that drove its 2024 hype will continue. The SOL price is at a critical juncture, with questions around its future DeFi dominance.