What happened?
Bitwise launched a spot Solana ETF (BSOL) that pulled $69.5 million in inflows on its first trading day, far outpacing the Rex-Osprey SSK ETF’s $12 million debut. BSOL is fully spot-based and stakes its SOL in-house to pass along about a 7% annual yield, with a low 0.20% fee waived for the first three months. Competing products like SSK and Grayscale’s GSOL are entering the market at the same time, and Western Union also announced plans to launch a dollar-backed stablecoin on Solana next year.
Who does this affect?
Institutional and retail investors who want regulated, ETF-style exposure to Solana now have a simpler, yield-bearing option that could attract big capital. ETF issuers, staking services, validators, and exchanges will face more competition as managers vie for inflows and staking strategies. Payments and remittance players, plus everyday users, could also be affected if Western Union’s USDPT drives mainstream stablecoin use on Solana.
Why does this matter?
Strong early ETF inflows are a signal of renewed institutional confidence and can bring sustained capital into Solana, which supports token price and on-chain activity. If ETFs reliably deliver staking rewards and Western Union’s stablecoin increases real-world usage, demand for SOL and network activity could become more durable rather than speculation-driven. More institutional flows and practical payment use would boost liquidity, tighten spreads, and force fee and product competition across the crypto ETF market, changing where capital flows in crypto.