Author: Alex O'Donnell, CoinTelegraph; Translator: Tao Zhu, Jinse Finance

According to James Seyffart, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, even under a crypto-friendly White House leadership, a Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) may not be launched in the US until 2026.

Seyffart said in an interview with Blockworks that issuers "may see" delays in Solana ETF applications after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.

However, "due to SEC precedents, it takes 240-260 days to review applications, so the timeline may be pushed out to 2026," Seyffart said.

He said the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) lawsuits against crypto exchanges, alleging that SOL constitutes an unregistered security, further complicates the review process.

"The SEC Enforcement Division has said Solana is a security, which prevents the SEC's other divisions from analyzing it as a commodity ETF," Seyffart said.

Market betting on the likelihood of a Solana ETF approval. Source: Polymarket

Evolving Regulatory Environment

Trump had promised to turn the US into the "world capital of cryptocurrency," and planned to appoint crypto-friendly leaders to head major financial regulators, including the SEC.

Under President Joe Biden's leadership, the SEC has taken an active regulatory stance towards cryptocurrencies, taking hundreds of actions against industry companies.

In 2024, the agency authorized the listing of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in January and July, respectively.

However, other ETF applications, including several proposed spot SOL ETFs, remain in limbo.

"Many Solana ETF applications have been filed but not recognized by the SEC - they've essentially been outright rejected," Seyffart said.

In 2024, asset management firms filed a series of regulatory filings to list Altcoin-holding ETFs, including those holding SOL, XRP, and Litecoin.

Issuers are also awaiting approval for several planned crypto index ETFs, which aim to hold a variety of digital tokens.

In fact, these applications were the "Trump-win call options" in the US presidential election, according to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas in October.

Not everyone agrees with Seyffart's view. In November, VanEck's digital asset research head Matthew Sigel said the likelihood of a SOL ETF listing in the US by the end of 2025 is "very high."