Canada is preparing to launch the world's first spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Solana this week, surpassing the United States in the race for alternative currency funds. The Ontario Securities Commission has granted approval to several issuers, including Purpose, Evolve, CI, and 3iQ, to trade these funds. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas initially reported this development.

The ETFs will provide direct spot exposure to Solana, the sixth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, which is currently valued at $68.2 billion, according to CoinGecko. Solana is also the blockchain supporting many meme coins, such as the Trump MAGA coin.

One of the approved issuers, Purpose Investments, announced the anticipated launch of the Purpose Solana ETF on the Toronto Stock Exchange on April 16. In addition to providing direct spot exposure to Solana, the product is designed to offer attractive staking yields.

These funds will also participate in staking, a first of its kind in the industry. Staking is the process of allocating cryptocurrency assets to support the security and operations of the blockchain network, for which participants receive rewards.