PANews reported on November 21 that, according to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, two people familiar with the matter revealed that the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the issuers who hope to launch a SOL spot ETF are "making progress" in their negotiations, and the SEC is currently processing the S-1 filing. These two sources said that in the coming days, we are "very likely" to see the exchange representatives of the potential issuers submit some 19b4 filings - the next step in the ETF approval process.
Currently, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital have all filed S-1 documents for a Solana ETF, while Bitwise announced yesterday that it intends to file an S-1. The 19b4 filings will be submitted by the exchange (such as CBOE) on behalf of the issuers, requesting the SEC to allow the potential ETFs to be listed. Once the SEC confirms receipt of the filings, a 240-day window will be opened, during which the SEC can approve or reject these products.
Submitting the 19b4 filing does not guarantee SEC approval. In fact, the 19b4 filings previously submitted by VanEck and 21Shares were withdrawn from the CBOE website in August, and some industry insiders speculate that the reason is that the SEC under the leadership of Gary Gensler is not very inclined to approve such listings. Now, the issuers say that the recent involvement of the staff, along with the upcoming crypto-friendly administration, is sparking a new sense of optimism that a Solana ETF could be approved at some point in 2025.