Key points:
- Solana rises to new record
- Gensler to leave SEC in January
- Solana could get its own spot ETF
Prospects of Solana flexing its own US-based spot exchange-traded fund just got more real with Gensler now out of the picture.
- Solana SOLUSD hit an all-time record early Friday morning as traders ramped up their bets on the token after growth prospects just got brighter. The digital asset, rivaling Ethereum but boasting more powerful tech, shot up to $265 a piece, surpassing its 2021 record of $260. Solana has staged a hulking recovery from the days when FTX collapsed and dragged its prices all the way to $8 less than two years ago.
- What gave it a boost was the surprise announcement by Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler. The SEC boss said he will step down from his post on January 20, right when Donald Trump gets inaugurated as President of the US. Gensler wasn’t crypto traders’ favorite guy — he led the sweeping crackdown on digital assets and crypto companies, preventing the growth of the industry.
- The SEC is responsible for the approval of ETF listings. And that’s largely what drove Solana to a record. A spot Solana exchange-traded fund just got more real with Gensler out of the picture. There are currently only two cryptocurrencies allowed by the SEC to be traded as spot ETFs — eleven Bitcoin ETFs and nine Ethereum ETFs. Could Solana be the third approved crypto to have its ETF? We’ll see in 2025.