The financial firm, Canary Capital, modified its application for a Solana spot ETF to add the staking option. Thus, the company will offer investors the possibility to lock up their invested capital for greater returns. If it receives the green light from the SEC, this initiative will be carried out with the Marinade Finance protocol.
This modification of the S-1 form was known this Wednesday in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If this stock product receives approval, it would become the official entry of DeFi options into the stock market. In this sense, Wall Street capital would have indirect access to yield functions based on smart contracts.
This alliance between the financial firm and the protocol based on the Solana network leads to the renaming of the ETF in application. Now, it will be called Canary Marinade Solana ETF. It is important to mention that the protocol had already hinted at this alliance earlier in the week. In fact, it spoke of a major announcement reserved for this May 21.
Although there are no guarantees of approval for this type of spot ETF by the SEC, the community has high hopes. During the agency's administration under Gary Gensler, staking was completely ruled out from any exchange-traded product linked to digital currencies. This prevented Ethereum fund issuers from advancing in that direction.
🚨 Marinade is the first staking provider to be named in a U.S. Solana ETF filing
The proposed ETF from @CanaryFunds is powered by Marinade Select, a new staking strategy built for trust and transparency.
Here’s what it means and why we built Select 👇
1/4 pic.twitter.com/UmzkrynBx8— Marinade 🛡️ (@MarinadeFinance) May 21, 2025
Will Solana be the third ETF on the US stock exchange?
Despite this new era in which the United States is more friendly towards cryptocurrencies, the SEC is moving slowly. So far, the agency has delayed numerous proposals for exchange-traded funds of various cryptocurrencies. The Commission’s leadership states that it requires more review time to ensure that the applications are not harmful to investors.
So far, the two existing spot ETFs are for Bitcoin and Ethereum. The community is waiting to see what the third fund will be, which would have enormous significance. Basically, it would be a way to corroborate which is the third most important token in the eyes of the Federal Government.
Some believe that SOL meets all the characteristics to be the third ETF on the US stock exchange. However, others believe it could be LTC from Litecoin, given that it has more similarities with Bitcoin. In any case, the modification of the Solana fund application changes the game by introducing the staking function.
In theory, this spot ETF for Solana would be much more attractive than the currently existing Ethereum funds. Staking involves locking up coins in a protocol to help with the processing of blockchain blocks. By doing so, the network rewards stakers with new coins. In Marinade, for example, it can be done directly.
In the case of an ETF, investors should buy the ETF shares that represent the spot price of SOL. Subsequently, they inform their broker that they wish to access staking. The issuing firm takes care of the process and, in exchange, receives a commission.
Although this way may be more complex, for institutional investors it becomes a secure and backed method against possible eventualities of the protocol.
