I just saw that Nasdaq officially submitted the application to list the first liquid staking ETF fund of Solana in the United States, and honestly, this is quite significant for the crypto market.

The product is from VanEck and focuses on JitoSOL, that token which represents locked assets plus accumulated rewards. What’s interesting here is that unlike other funds, staking gains are not distributed separately but are directly capitalized into the value of the fund’s shares. Basically, investors get compound growth without having to deal with the technical complexity of managing their own validators.

The application was filed under Rule 5711(d), arguing that JitoSOL is economically comparable to Solana’s native currency. And here’s the key point: they are using previous approvals of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs as legal precedent before the SEC. It’s a smart strategy because they’ve already demonstrated that these instruments meet standards against fraud and manipulation.

Currently, there are funds with exposure to staking, but this would be the first focused exclusively on a liquid staking token. And well, 21Shares is already offering similar products in Europe, so there’s regulatory pressure for the U.S. not to fall behind in financial innovation.

The review period could extend up to 90 days. What I find remarkable is that this move reflects how traditional finance and decentralized finance are increasingly converging. If approved, we’ll probably see more ETFs focused on different aspects of the blockchain ecosystem. In the end, we’re talking about democratizing access to yields that previously only technical users could access. Definitely something worth keeping a close eye on.