According to a report from CryptoSlate, Rob Marrocco, Vice President responsible for ETF listings at Cboe, a leading exchange for multiple Bitcoin spot ETFs, believes that without first establishing a futures market or changing regulatory conditions, it is impossible for crypto ETFs beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum to appear.
Marrocco stated in the ETF Store Podcast on June 11 that market expectations for Solana (SOL) and XRP spot ETFs are unlikely to be realized in the short term. These cryptocurrencies lack a futures market, which is the main reason why spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved.
This means that the only viable way to bring a Solana ETF to market is through a Solana futures ETF first, and then there might be a chance for a spot ETF. However, even with the introduction of Solana futures ETFs, they would need to trade for a considerable amount of time to establish a track record to prove that the market is large and transparent enough, a process that could take quite some time.
Marrocco suggests another approach of establishing a comprehensive cryptocurrency regulatory framework that will define the composition of securities and commodities, enabling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take appropriate action.
This would require legislative action, which may take a similar or longer amount of time, but with cryptocurrencies becoming an increasingly important issue for American voters in an election year, it seems to be a possible option.
The House passed FIT21 on May 22, the “21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act”, which if approved by the Senate and signed into law, will further clarify the regulatory responsibilities of the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in digital assets and make regulatory principles clearer.
Experts have differing opinions on the issue of a Solana ETF, with skepticism from JPMorgan and Bloomberg, while Bernstein believes that the approval of an Ethereum ETF will pave the way for similar tokens like Solana to obtain commodity classification.
Cboe Solana ETF