Recent admiration for the Solana network by Franklin Templeton, a trillion-dollar asset management firm, expressed on their official X (Twitter) account, has instilled fresh optimism regarding the potential launch of a Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the foreseeable future.
In a social media post dated January 16, the firm’s digital asset team, temporarily managing the X account, conveyed their impression of the various developments within the Solana ecosystem, particularly commending Anatoly Yakovenko’s leadership. Franklin Templeton stated on January 17 that they were “impressed” by Anatoly’s vision of a single atomic state machine, recognizing it as a potent use case for decentralized blockchains and a means of reducing information asymmetry.
The company highlighted Solana’s significant advancements in the last quarter, pointing out the growth in decentralized finance (DeFi), infrastructure networks, nonfungible token innovations, and even the emergence of memecoins. Franklin Templeton playfully suggested changing their current laser-eye profile picture on X to one featuring Benjamin Franklin wearing a knitted hat, alluding to a new Solana memecoin called “dogwifhat.”
While acknowledging developments on the Ethereum network, Bitcoin Ordinals, BTC-based Layer-2s, and “other L1s,” Franklin Templeton’s digital assets team predominantly directed their commendation towards Solana. This Solana-centric praise has fueled speculation among Crypto X users, with many expressing hopes that Franklin Templeton might consider introducing a Solana ETF product in the future.
A pseudonymous X user, nxxn, enthusiastically remarked, “Ok guys. Solana ETF is next.” Additionally, a post from Bitcoin advocate “Lex” suggested that the possibility of a Solana-based ETF could be just a matter of time.
Following the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 11, there is growing optimism within the industry that other cryptocurrencies may also find a place in a United States spot crypto ETF, with Ether (ETH) currently priced at $2,527 and XRP being among the potential candidates.
Numerous spot Ether ETFs are currently in the approval pipeline with the SEC, and analysts anticipate that several of them will receive a final decision from the U.S. securities regulator around May.
Although Franklin Templeton has not submitted a spot Ether ETF filing, the firm has expressed favorable sentiments regarding the Ethereum ecosystem.
In a subsequent post on X, Franklin Templeton conveyed their enthusiasm for ETH and its ecosystem. Despite recent challenges, they foresee a promising future with numerous robust forces propelling the Ethereum ecosystem forward.
Protodank Sharding, which enables rollups to incorporate more cost-effective data into blocks through EIP-4844, and restaking, involving the recycling of staked Ether to accrue fees and rewards, stand out as two of the four developments that Franklin expressed enthusiasm for within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Franklin indicated that it remains vigilant in observing other layer 1 blockchains. While the firm did not specify the networks in question, it noted that some of them exhibit “massive potential.”