For years, Solana was seen as crypto’s fast but vulnerable alternative to Ethereum, admired for its speed but dismissed as untested.
However, this perception has changed dramatically this week.
Record launch
On October 28, Bitwise’s Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) debuted with $69 million in inflows on its first day, the strongest launch among the roughly 850 ETFs launched this year, according to data from SosoValue.
Additionally, the fund generated $57.9 million in trading volume, outperforming all other ETF launches this year.
ETF inflows capture new money coming into a fund, while trading volume measures investor participation. Both indicators are important because high inflows without trading activity may indicate internal seeding rather than real demand.
Given that BSOL posted strong numbers on both counts, this is a sign of genuine, diversified investor interest rather than passive seeding or speculative noise.
This is Eric Balchunas from Bloomberg described the Solana ETF debut as “a strong start,” while noting that BSOL had seed capital of $220 million.
According to him, the fund’s first-day performance could have reached $280 million if the seed capital had been fully deployed on day one. This could potentially overshadow BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF performance on its first day of trading.
Regardless, the $220 million seed capital helped lift BSOL’s net asset value to $289 million, putting the company ahead of several Ethereum and Bitcoin ETFs in the US market rankings. For context, it took several months for early ETH ETF products to reach similar levels of activity.
Why the Solana ETF performed strongly
BSOL outperformed its peers because it offered something that most crypto ETFs still lack: yield combined with exposure.
Unlike traditional ETFs, which simply track price, BSOL’s structure offers investors the opportunity to earn stake rewards and potential price appreciation.
Approximately 82% of Solana interests are already invested through Helius Labs, with the aim of reaching 100%. This translates into an average annual return of 7%, allowing institutions to participate in Solana’s native economy without the operational burden of self-control or node management.
In addition to returns, Solana’s strong fundamentals boosted demand.
The network has delivered near-perfect uptime since early 2024, total DeFi value has tripled this year, and transaction volumes regularly exceed those on Ethereum.
That combination of high throughput, low fees, and real on-chain activity positioned Solana as the most revenue-generating Layer-1 blockchain.
Considering all this, Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, says: said:
“Institutional investors love ETFs, and they love revenue. Solana has the most revenue of any blockchain. That’s why institutional investors love Solana ETFs.”
In short, BSOL succeeded because it translated Solana’s on-chain efficiency and wagering revenue into a regulated, yield-bearing financial product.
How Solana ETFs Can Affect SOL Price
If history is any guide, Solana’s price could experience a sustained revaluation phase following the launch of its ETF, just as Bitcoin and Ethereum did after their respective approvals.
Facts from K33 Research shows a strong correlation (R² = 0.80) between Bitcoin ETF flows and 30-day BTC returns, meaning ETF inflows explain approximately 80% of Bitcoin’s price variance.
Ethereum ETFs in particular exhibited similar behavior, with analysts noting that reduced circulating supply and negative net issuance made ETH price more sensitive to capital inflows than BTC.
Solana’s circumstances could magnify that effect. About 70% of SOL’s circulating supply has already been deployed, meaning it can no longer be traded on the exchange. With Bitwise’s BSOL ETF targeting 100% of its investments, available liquidity will tighten further as institutional demand increases.
This means that every new dollar coming into Solana ETFs will put upward pressure on the price due to a thinner supply base.
So if the ETFs follow market analysts’ predictions that they could generate between $5 billion and $8 billion in new capital entering the Solana ecosystem, this could potentially drive a 60 to 120% price increase under similar elasticity assumptions used for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Moreover, the fundamentals surrounding SOL further strengthen this outlook.
Galaxy research describes Solana has transitioned from a speculative asset to an “infrastructure play,” anchoring the Internet of Capital Markets, a system designed to support real-world asset tokenization, DeFi, and consumer-grade financial rails.
This story fits perfectly with institutional mandates looking for scalable, return-generating exposure to blockchain.
In short, if ETF inflows continue and on-chain fundamentals remain robust, SOL could realistically reach $500 or more in the next cycle.
