Brazil Just Approved Its First Solana ETF

The country’s newly approved spot Solana ETF now needs to get the final nod from the national stock exchange to go live.  

Key Takeaways

• Brazil has approved a spot Solana ETF, the first of its kind in Latin America.
 

• The ETF is expected to go live in 90 days once it gets approved by Brazil’s national stock exchange.
 

• Brazil is the largest market in Latin America in 2024 and the seventh largest in the world in 2024.
 

• Solana is the world’s fifth largest cryptocurrency, with an increase of 540% over the last 12 months.

The securities regulator of Brazil, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), has recently approved a spot Solana (SOL) exchange-traded fund (ETF). It is the first such crypto ETF in the Latin American country and among the first Solana ETFs in the world. However, the ETF first needs to be approved by B3, Brazil’s stock exchange before its official launch, which is expected within 90 days. 

B3 has already listed a Bitcoin (BTC) ETF and an Ethereum (ETH) ETF during 2021-2022, besides BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) in March 2024. The latest Solana ETF will be indexed against the CME CF Solana Dollar Reference Rate developed by CF Benchmarks along with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). QR Asset, a leading Brazilian asset manager, will offer the ETF, and Vortx, a local firm with a focus on capital markets, will serve as its manager.

Though spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs have been approved and listed in the U.S., we are yet to see if the country will list Solana ETFs. Last month, Cboe requested the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) to allow VanEck and 21Shares to introduce a Solana ETF.  

Image: SOL/USD trading chart, by BitDelta

Crypto trading volume denominated in Brazilian real reached $6 billion from January to early May in 2024, as per data from Kaiko Research. Crypto trading activity in the country is up 30% year-over-year (YoY). So far, Brazil has been ranked as the largest market in Latin America in 2024 and the seventh largest worldwide in terms of fiat currency trade.

SOL is the fifth largest cryptocurrency in the world with a market cap of $73 billion. It soared 540% over the last 12 months and 55% since January this year. The cryptocurrency was exchanging hands at $157.33 at writing time.