Avalanche and Solana Filings; Ether Staking Coming Soon, Say Experts

Much is happening in the world of crypto-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs). While markets continue to yo-yo thanks to a trade war started by the US president, there’s news on Solana and Avalanche filings, and it looks like Ether funds will soon receive staking rewards.

Just days ago, the US saw the launch of its first-ever leveraged XRP ETF, which has attracted strong interest. Now, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published a filing to list Fidelity’s Solana Fund. The Cboe BZX Exchange’s 19b-4 form was entered into the Federal Register on April 9.

Related: 21Shares to Launch First Dogecoin ETP Endorsed by the Dogecoin Foundation

This could make the Fidelity fund the first Solana-based ETF in the United States. The fund would trade on the Cboe BZX Exchange as a commodity-based trust.

Avalanche ETF Incoming? Price Could Reach New Highs, Says Standard Chartered

Meanwhile, US stock exchange Nasdaq has filed an application with the SEC for a VanEck Avalanche Trust.

If approved, the fund would allow investors to benefit from AVAX’s price movements without directly owning the cryptocurrency, with VanEck as the sponsor and a third-party custodian holding the tokens.

Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick recently made some bold price predictions for AVAX. While currently trading for US$18.45 (AU$29.55), which is down 87% from the all-time high of US$146.22 (AU$234.25) in November 2021, the firm has high hopes for the 13th-largest crypto-asset.

According to Kendrick, they expect AVAX to reach US$55 (AU$88) by the end of 2025 and US$250 (AU$400) by 2029.

They believe the key driver for Avalanche’s growth is its unique scaling model using subnets, especially boosted by the recent Etna upgrade, which lowered the cost of creating subnets and attracted more developers to the ecosystem.

Related: Paul Atkins Confirmed as SEC Chair, Bringing Pro-Crypto Stance to the Helm

This upgrade has increased network activity, improved EVM compatibility, and made Avalanche more appealing compared to some Ethereum Layer 2 solutions.

Ethereum Staking May Be Coming Soon

The next crypto-ETF development which has investors excited is the topic of staking rewards in the US Ethereum ETFs. Currently, holders of these ETFs aren’t receiving staking rewards, which makes holding and staking ETH in a traditional crypto wallet more attractive.

Robert Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, said the absence of staking in these funds is “less perfect for ETH today”.

A staking yield is a meaningful part of how you can generate investment return in this space, and all the [ether] ETFs at launch did not have staking.

Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock

The good news is that staking may be coming sooner than expected. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart believes that the recent approval of options contracts could be a key driver for staking approval.

The SEC had only approved options trading for US ETF providers including BlackRock, Grayscale and Bitwise this week.

Seyffart said staking approval could come as early as May, but is more likely toward the end of the year.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Down with Massive ETF Outflows

Despite the good news, ETH is down 6% over the past 24 hours, currently trading for US$1,539 (AU$2,465). Data from Farside shows that the sell-off of the US Ether ETFs continues on its third day now.

After starting the week with net-zero flows, the past three days have seen a combined US$59.7 million (AU$95.6 million) in net outflows for the funds.

Related: Aussies Reject Pension Titans, Turn to Crypto and Self-Managed Super Funds

Bitcoin also fell 2.2% on the daily chart, dropping to US$80,366 (AU$128,726) early on Friday. The US Bitcoin ETFs have seen massive net outflows for seven days in a row now.

The most recent trading day, Thursday, had US$149.5 million (AU$239.4 million) exit the funds. The ETFs still hold 1.118 million BTC or 5.327% of the total supply.