Trillion-dollar asset manager files for Solana spot ETF, expands crypto offerings

Franklin Templeton, an asset manager with $1.68 trillion worth of assets under management has entered the race for a Solana spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), filing documents in Delaware to register the Franklin Solana Trust entity.

The filing follows previous Solana ETF applications from Canary and Grayscale, which have already been confirmed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

If approved, Franklin Templeton’s Solana ETF would provide institutional investors with regulated exposure to SOL, a blockchain gaining traction due to its high-throughput, monolithic architecture.

On July 23, Franklin Templeton showed interest in Solana ETF, for the first time.

“Besides Bitcoin and Ethereum, there are other exciting and major developments that we believe will drive the crypto space forward,” Franklin Templeton wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Solana has shown major adoption and continues to mature, overcoming technological growing pains and highlighting the potential of high-throughput, monolithic architectures.”

Expanding ETF offerings

Franklin Templeton was among the first firms to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States, and its expansion into Solana underscores its confidence in broader crypto adoption.

The company’s spot Ethereum ETF (EZET) debuted on CBOE’s BZX exchange, with 0% fees until Jan. 31, 2025, or for the first $10 billion in fund assets.