The Solana Staking Exchange Traded Fund looks to have a promising future on traditional stock exchanges, as the Bitwise fund debuted on the New York Stock Exchange with trading volume exceeding $56 million on its first day.
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hogan described the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) as the “missing piece of the puzzle” in a conversation with Cointelegraph’s Daily Show “Chain Reaction” as the ETF attracted millions of dollars of investment on the New York Stock Exchange.
So, @BitwiseInvest The Solana Staking ETF has recorded a total trading volume of $56 million since its debut in 2019. @New York Stock Exchange 💰
as @EricBalchuna This will reportedly be the largest ETF debut in 2026.@Matt_Hougan explained $BSOL as the “missing piece of the puzzle.”
The reason is as follows @Solana Staking ETFs may be attractive… pic.twitter.com/syFGy6Dwm9
— Gareth Jenkinson (@gazza_jenks) October 29, 2025
Hogan said investors have previously stood to gain more by owning Solana in a way that allows them to directly stake their assets and earn yield, rather than investing in ETFs or products that don’t allow staking.
“Once you invest in an ETF, you get all the great things about ETFs: very low costs, institutional custodianship, you can buy with your brokerage account, it’s as easy as pushing a button, and staking happens automatically,” Hogan said.
“I think this is going to be one of the primary ways people invest in Solana around the world. I think that’s a huge thing.”
Investors want custody and staking yield
Hogan highlighted the difference between traditional crypto ETFs, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum products, which primarily provide investors with exposure to the underlying asset. As Hogan explained, staking ETFs have two benefits for investors.
“So someone who invests in something like $BSOL not only gets a return of Solana, but they get about 7% of additional Solana on top of that every year. For TradFi investors, that’s like a dividend in an oversimplified sense.”
Hougan said the product will also help decentralize and secure the Solana network. The $BSOL ETF launched with $222 million in assets, representing over 1.1 million SOL tokens.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, reported that Bitwise’s SOL Staking ETF had the highest trading volume of any ETF upon its debut in 2025.
Regulatory changes enable Solana staking ETF
Hogan also acknowledged that the U.S. regulatory U-turn was the catalyst that ultimately gave the Solana stock ETF the green light. During Gary Gensler’s tenure at the helm of the SEC, Bitcoin and Ether ETFs took years to get the regulatory green light.
The Bitwise executive said ETF staking with Solana “wouldn’t have been even remotely possible” without a major change in the attitude of U.S. regulators toward the crypto sector.
“It’s impossible to just unstake Solana, right? We narrowly missed Gary Gensler’s pinhole and got Ethereum,” Hogan said. “And there was no way to get anything else through that pinhole. And when you add staking on top of that, staking becomes more complex.”
Related: Bitwise SOL Staking ETF debuts with $223 million in assets, showing strong demand from institutional investors
He said a number of complexities also plagued regulators, including liquidity and tax implications. However, the launch of BSOL and Grayscale’s Solana Trust ETF (GSOL) could very well open the door to other TradFi investment products linked to the proof-of-stake protocol.
“Not only have we achieved that this time, but this also opens the door to the launch of various other ETPs that do staking as well. So this is kind of a major proof of concept in the history of U.S. crypto ETPs.”
Magazine: Solana vs. Ethereum ETF, Facebook’s Impact on Bitwise: Hunter Horsley