VanEck announced on Monday that it started trading the VanEck Solana ETF on Nasdaq under the ticker VSOL, saying the new exchange-traded fund gives investors exposure to SOL, the native token of the Solana blockchain network.
“Solana’s historical high-performance, low-cost architecture has made it a leading blockchain for onchain activity, processing tens of millions of transactions per day across decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, NFTs, and tokenized real-world assets,” according to VanEck.
Solana was designed for scalability and efficiency, and combines a Proof of History (PoH) mechanism with Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus that VanEck said allows for fast block times and low transaction costs. “Validators stake SOL to verify transactions, secure the network, and earn staking rewards in return,” according to the firm.
“We launched VSOL now because Solana has reached an inflection point, in terms of technology and real-world adoption,” Kyle DaCruz, Director of Digital Assets Product at VanEck, told WSR by email.
“Solana’s high-performance, low-cost architecture has made it one of the most actively used blockchains, processing tens of millions of daily transactions across DeFi, gaming, NFTs, and tokenized real-world assets,” he said.
“That momentum, combined with the network’s proof-of-stake design and staking rewards, has created growing investor demand for a simple, regulated way to access SOL and its staking benefits without the complexities of direct ownership.”
In a news release, he said, “Solana has quickly emerged as a leading proof-of-stake network, offering speed, scalability, and efficiency that continue to attract developers and real-world use cases. We’re excited to be launching VSOL and to build on VanEck’s long history of expanding access to digital assets through thoughtful, investor-focused products.”
In addition to spot cryptocurrency products, VSOL has been added to a family of digital asset and digital asset-focused ETFs from the company alongside the VanEck Digital Transformation ETF (DAPP), an index-tracking fund developed to provide exposure to companies active in digital assets economies, and the VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE), an actively managed ETF designed to provide exposure to firms connected to the onchain economy such as digital asset services and exposure, as well as blockchain infrastructure.
VanEck said it is waiving its sponsor fee for VSOL for the first $1 billion in assets or until Feb. 17, whichever comes first. During that time, VSOL’s third-party staking service provider will also waive its fee for staking services, according to VanEck. After the waivers, the sponsor fee will be 0.30%.
The firm launched VanEck Bitcoin ETF (HODL) and VanEck Ethereum ETF (ETHV) in 2024, it pointed out.
In June, VanEck started trading a VanEck Alternative Asset Manager ETF (GPZ) on the NYSE Arca, saying that was the first U.S.-listed ETF offering comprehensive exposure to publicly traded asset managers focused mainly on the private markets.
The firm’s digital assets research team is led by Matthew Sigel.
VanEck now has over $5.2 billion in assets for its digital asset solutions that also includes multi-asset private funds and 29 crypto exchange-traded products in Europe, it said.
As of Oct. 31, VanEck said it managed about $171.7 billion in assets overall, including mutual funds, ETFs and institutional accounts.
Jeff Berman, Contributing Editor and Reporter at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at jeff.berman@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
