The worldwide asset supervisor VanEck has filed an S-1 registration assertion with the US Securities and Alternate Fee(SEC) to launch the VanEck JitoSOL exchange-traded fund (ETF). In line with the submitting, this fund will maintain solely JitoSOL, the liquid staking token issued by Jito Community.
The submission marks the primary try and register a US exchange-traded fund backed by a liquid staking token, doubtlessly exposing buyers to Solana’s staking yields by way of a regulated product. JitoSOL represents Solana (SOL) locked with validators whereas offering a transferable token that accrues rewards, a course of often called liquid staking.
The product would prolong VanEck’s enlargement into digital asset funds, following its spot Bitcoin ETF launched in early 2024 and Ether ETF earlier that 12 months. Not like these automobiles, the JitoSOL ETF might check the SEC’s stance on staking.
SEC continues to debate staking
The transfer from VanEck comes after Jito Labs and the Jito Basis co-authored a letter to the SEC on July 31 urging regulators to allow liquid staking tokens like JitoSOL to be included in exchange-traded merchandise, with help from VanEck, Bitwise, Multicoin Capital and the Solana Coverage Institute.
Within the letter, the teams argued that liquid staking tokens present a safer and extra environment friendly approach to combine staking into exchange-traded merchandise (ETPs), spreading stake throughout validators and lowering operational complexity. They pointed to out there SEC steerage indicating that the majority types of staking don’t represent securities transactions, framing liquid staking tokens as in step with present guidelines.
That steerage has are available two components. In Could, the SEC’s employees issued an announcement saying solo and delegated staking usually fall exterior securities legal guidelines as a result of rewards are set by the protocol fairly than a 3rd celebration.
In August, the company prolonged the view to liquid staking, describing receipt tokens comparable to JitoSOL as proof of possession fairly than funding contracts — supplied the supplier doesn’t exert discretionary management.
Nonetheless, the SEC’s feedback are employees statements fairly than binding guidelines, that means they don’t carry the pressure of regulation and may very well be reinterpreted by the Fee or courts.
The SEC’s posture on staking has developed significantly from the previous. In February 2023, the company charged crypto change Kraken with providing an unregistered staking program, leading to a $30 million settlement and the closure of its US staking service. Later that 12 months, the company sued Coinbase over related allegations. That case was dismissed in February 2025.
Past enforcement actions, the SEC has additionally formed staking coverage by way of the ETF approval course of. When the company authorized spot Ether ETFs in Could 2024, issuers initially proposed the choice to stake Ether (ETH) held by the funds. The SEC required all references to staking to be eliminated earlier than approving.
Consequently, the Ether ETFs launched final 12 months from issuers together with BlackRock, Constancy, Grayscale, and VanEck maintain ETH solely and don’t have interaction in staking.
Journal: X Corridor of Flame: 3 causes Ethereum might flip a nook, Kain Warwick
