For years, Solana was seen as a faster but weaker cryptocurrency alternative to Ethereum, which was praised for its speed but ignored as untested.
But this week that perception changed dramatically.
record release
On October 28, Bitwise’s Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) debuted with $69 million in first-day inflows, the strongest start of the approximately 850 ETFs introduced this year, according to SosoValue data.
Additionally, the fund generated $57.9 million in trading volume, outpacing all other ETFs launched this year.
ETF inflows capture new money flowing into the fund, and trading volume measures investor participation. Both indicators are important because large inflows without trading activity can suggest internal seeding rather than true demand.
Given that BSOL posted strong numbers on both metrics, this is a sign of true diversified investor interest rather than passive seeding or speculative noise.
That’s why Bloomberg’s Eric Balciunas called the Solana ETF’s debut a “strong start,” noting that BSOL’s seed size was $220 million.
He said the fund’s first-day performance could have reached $280 million if the seed had been fully deployed on the first day. This could potentially outperform BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF on its first day of trading.
In any case, the $220 million seed brings BSOL’s net asset value to $289 million, surpassing several Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. market rankings. For context, it took several months for the initial ETH ETF products to reach similar activity levels.
Why Solana ETF is doing well
BSOL outperformed its peers because it offered something that most crypto ETFs still lack: a combination of exposure and yield.
Unlike traditional ETFs that simply track price, BSOL’s structure allows investors to earn staking rewards and potential price appreciation.
Approximately 82% of Solana’s ownership is already invested through Helius Labs, with the goal of reaching 100%. This equates to an average annual yield of 7% and allows institutions to participate in Solana’s native economy without the operational burden of self-custody or node management.
Beyond yield, Solana’s strong fundamentals amplified demand.
The network has achieved near-perfect uptime since the beginning of 2024, with total DeFi locks tripling since the beginning of the year and transaction volume regularly exceeding Ethereum transaction volume.
The combination of high throughput, low fees, and real on-chain activity has established Solana as the most profitable layer 1 blockchain.
With this in mind, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hogan said:
“Institutional investors love ETFs, and they love returns. Solana has the highest returns on the blockchain. So institutional investors love Solana ETFs.”
In short, BSOL was successful because it translated Solana’s on-chain efficiency and staking income into a regulated, high-yield financial product.
How Solana ETF impacts SOL price
If history is any guide, Solana’s price could undergo a sustained revaluation phase after the ETF’s launch, just as Bitcoin and Ethereum did after their respective approvals.
K33 Research data shows a strong correlation (R² = 0.80) between Bitcoin ETF flows and 30-day BTC returns, meaning ETF inflows explain approximately 80% of Bitcoin price fluctuations.
Notably, the Ethereum ETF showed similar movement, with analysts pointing out that the Ethereum ETF’s reduced circulating supply and negative net issuance make ETH more price sensitive to capital inflows than BTC.
Solana’s condition could magnify its effects. Approximately 70% of SOL’s circulating supply has already been staked and locked out of exchanges. Bitwise’s BSOL ETF targets 100% of its holdings, and available liquidity will become even tighter as institutional demand grows.
This means that every time new dollars flow into the Solana ETF, it puts upward pressure on the price as the supply base is diluted.
So if market analysts’ predictions are followed that the ETF could generate $5 billion to $8 billion in new capital flowing into the Solana ecosystem, it could cause a 60-120% price increase under similar elasticity assumptions used for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Additionally, the fundamentals surrounding SOL further strengthen this outlook.
Galaxy Research describes Solana as moving from a speculative asset to an “infrastructure play” that underpins the Internet of Capital Markets, a system designed to support real-world asset tokenization, DeFi, and consumer finance rails.
This narrative is perfectly aligned with the mission of institutions seeking scalable and revenue-generating blockchain exposure.
This means that if ETF inflows are sustained and on-chain fundamentals remain strong, SOL could realistically reach over $500 in the next cycle.