REX-Osprey Rolls Out America’s First Solana Staking ETF, Marrying Spot Exposure With On-Chain Yield

A brand-new exchange-traded fund is about to give U.S. investors something they have never had before: direct, regulated access to Solana (SOL) plus the ability to collect staking rewards inside the same wrapper. On Wednesday, July 3, REX Shares will list the REX-Osprey Solana and Staking ETF, marking the first time an American ETF has embedded an on-chain staking strategy rather than simply holding crypto in cold storage.

Why This Launch Matters

Traditional spot-crypto ETFs—the kind that hold Bitcoin or Ethereum—aim to mirror the market price of the underlying token. The REX-Osprey product goes a step further by delegating its SOL to validators, earning staking income that flows back into the fund. For investors, that means a single ticker symbol delivers two things at once:

1. Price exposure to one of the fastest-growing Layer-1 networks.

2. Yield generation that would otherwise require running a wallet and navigating the technical steps of staking.

In effect, the ETF turns a blockchain activity into a set-and-forget Wall Street instrument, a structure that could accelerate institutional adoption of proof-of-stake assets.

The Regulatory Back-and-Forth

REX Shares originally filed the prospectus months ago, but the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pushed back on the fund’s C-Corporation structure, arguing that it clashed with the 1940 Act rules governing most ETFs. Instead of scrap­ping the idea, REX tweaked its filing and continued discussions. The logjam finally cleared after the agency issued guidance in May affirming that staking itself does not automatically convert a crypto asset into a security.

While the SEC is still deliberating on a broader framework for staked-asset funds, the revised filing satisfied regulators enough to green-light Wednesday’s debut. Industry lawyers see the decision as a template for other issuers that want to package staking rewards inside an ETF without running afoul of securities law.

Market Reaction: SOL Extends Its Rally

Solana’s price wasted no time reacting to the news. Within hours of the Monday announcement, SOL jumped roughly 6 % to $158, building on a seven-day gain that now exceeds 12 %. Even so, the token remains about 46 % below its all-time high set in January, leaving room for further upside should fresh institutional capital flow in through the ETF.

At its current valuation of about $83.5 billion, Solana sits comfortably in sixth place on the crypto market-cap leaderboard. Bulls argue that staking ETFs could help close the gap with Ethereum by making SOL exposure as familiar to portfolio managers as buying shares in a blue-chip stock index.

“Altcoin Summer” in Sight?

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has been tracking the wave of post-Bitcoin filings and noted in June that multiple altcoin funds were on pace for July approvals—with Solana “likely leading the way.” If that timeline holds, the REX-Osprey launch could be the first domino to fall, setting off what traders on Crypto Twitter have dubbed an “altcoin summer” fueled by new, asset-specific products.

The theory is simple: every time Wall Street gains a compliant vehicle to access a token, pent-up demand translates into incremental buy pressure. Bitcoin’s spot ETF approvals in January offered a real-world test case; they attracted billions in inflows and helped push BTC to an all-time high above $73,000 in March.

A Look Under Solana’s Hood

Beyond the ETF hype, Solana’s on-chain metrics have been flashing strength. According to data from TradingView and several analytics dashboards, the network’s decentralized-exchange (DEX) volumes recently overtook Ethereum’s for several consecutive days—an outcome few would have predicted a year ago. Raydium, Pump.fun and Orca led the charge, each facilitating surging meme-coin activity and NFT launches that chewed through Solana’s high-throughput capacity without crippling fees.

This backdrop matters because staking rewards depend on network usage: more transactions mean more fees, which inflate the staking yield the ETF can distribute. If Solana’s DEX momentum holds, early fund investors could see a compounding effect where both price appreciation and yield trend higher.

What Investors Should Watch Next

• Expense ratio: REX has not yet published its final fee schedule, but cost will be a key competitive lever as rival issuers race to file me-too products.

• Validator diversification: The prospectus outlines how the fund will delegate SOL to multiple validators to mitigate slashing risk. Tracking that allocation will be crucial for due-diligence teams.

• SEC stance on other assets: If the regulator signs off on staking ETFs for networks like Polkadot, Cardano or Avalanche, the entire proof-of-stake sector could reprice upward.

Bottom Line

The debut of the REX-Osprey Solana and Staking ETF represents a watershed moment for crypto markets in the United States. It bridges the gap between decentralized finance and traditional finance in a way that satisfies regulators, appeals to institutions hungry for yield, and spotlights Solana’s breakout year. Whether the launch ushers in a broader altcoin ETF boom—or merely stands as a one-off curiosity—will depend on how quickly capital flows into the fund and how decisively the SEC rules on the long line of staking-enabled products waiting in the wings.

Either way, the stakes—quite literally—have never been higher.