Solana ETF detonating the institutional war: $200 million in blood transfusions, Western Union rewriting game rules

Original by: Cathy, Blanket Chain

 

At the end of October 2025, the encrypted world witnessed a historic scene. Solana (SOL) broke the last regulatory barrier and became the third encrypted asset in the United States approved by the ETP after Bitcoin and Ethera。

This is not just another "ETF approved" boring news. Its approval process was dramatic, and its product was designed to be hidden, and the market reaction triggered countless traders. For us in the encryption industry, the landing of Solana ETF is not the end of a story, but the beginning of a new opportunity full of “inners”。

01 Wall Street “Civil War”

Solana ETF's “birth” is very unusual. It was not a public vote and a passionate press release born of the SEC (the United States Securities and Exchange Commission), but it took place during the “closing” of the United States federal government。

During this unique window, where the functions of the regulatory body are limited, the two major regulators — Bitwise and Grayscale (grayscale) — have demonstrated an alarming legal sensitivity. Using the guidelines issued by the SEC during this period, they allowed the S-1 registration declaration to take effect automatically without a “delayed amendment”。

• October 28th: Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (code: BSOL) first landed at NYSE。
• 29 October: Grayscale Solana Trust (code: GSOL) followed by the successful conversion of its trust product to ETP。

The “regulatory raid” opened a compliance entry for Solana's corporate capital and retail retirement accounts in the United States。

The data for the first week are called “heavy” and, according to Solana EPs in the United States:

• Cumulative net inflows in first week: $199.2 million
• THE TOTAL ASSET MANAGEMENT SCALE (AUM) QUICKLY EXCEEDED THE $500 MILLION MARK。

But the “average” masked the truth. Behind this huge inflow of nearly $200 million is an extremely cruel, winner-friendly food"Wall Street Civil War"I don't know。

• Winner: Bitwise (BSOL), first week net inflows of $197 million, total asset management scale (including seed money): approximately $420 million。
• Loser: Grayscale (GSOL), first week net inflows: $2.18 million, total asset management scale (including converted assets): approximately $101 million。

You're not mistaken. Of the new inflows, Bitwise's BSOL almost took it99%Market share. This seemingly even-handed battle was divided on the first day。

WHY IS IT SO ONE-SIDED? THE ANSWER IS THE BSOL TEXTBOOK“The Three Elements of the Flash War”:

Timing (nearly one day, all): BSOL was listed on 28 October (Tuesday), and GSOL only completed the conversion on 29 October (Monday). In the mobile ETF world, Bloomberg analysts say literally: “Just one day behind is actually huge. This makes competition much more difficult”. BSOL succeeded in defining itself as the “real” Solana ETF。

Price (0.20 per cent vs 0.35 per cent): BSOL ' s management fee is only 0.20 per cent and is completely free of charge during the first three months or until AUM reaches $1 billion. In contrast, the GSOL rate is as high as 0.35 per cent. This annualized difference of 0.15 per cent for carefully calculated institutional investors cannot be ignored。

Products (100% vs 77%): This is the most critical “secret weapon”. BSOL committed itself in its equity book to100 per cent of SOL assets are pledged (Staking). And GSOL only promised to pledge 77%assets。

For those outside the encryption circle, the difference of 23 per cent may be insignificant. But that's the revolutionary nature of Solana ETF for those who understand it。

02 ETF "LIVING"

The launch of Solana ETF was structurally more revolutionary than that of the ETF。

BitcoinETF is just a "digital gold" safe. You hold it, it doesn't produce any gains. And Solana is an equity (PoS) asset, holding it (with pledge) is like having a “digital property” that generates rent on a continuous basis。

Attraction of “interest-bearing assets”

• Rate of return crushes: Solana's pledge annualized rate of return (APY) ranged from 5 to 7 per cent. This is not only much higher than the rate of return of about 2 per cent for the Taipei, but also provides an “unique source of income” for institutional investors。
• Narrative shift: The Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Matt Hougan's summary was strong: “Institutional investors like ETF, they like income. Solana is the highest income in all block chains. Therefore, institutional investors like Solana ETF”。
• The essence of the product: Investing in bitcoin ETF, you're in jail for the price appreciation of "digital gold". And investing in Solana ETF, you're both betting on price appreciation and on a sizeable cash flow (Staking) unrelated to traditional bonds, equities。

THE BIGGEST EGG IS THE ATTITUDE OF THE SEC。

THE TERM “COMMITMENT” WAS AN ABSOLUTE TABOO WHEN APPROVED IN 2024 WITH ETF. THE SEC REPUGNANTNESS OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF “SECURITIES” THAT MAY BE INVOLVED IN PLEDGEING FORCES ALL ISSUERS TO DELETE THE RELEVANT PROVISION OVERNIGHT。

AND THIS TIME, THE SEC QUIETLY “LEAVED”. IT ACQUIESCED IN THE LISTING OF BOTH BSOL AND GSOL “WITH PLEDGE”。

THIS ACQUIESCENCE MARKS A SIGNIFICANT SHIFT IN THE REGULATORY POSITION OF THE SEC. IT OPENED A BRAND-NEW, TRILLION-DOLLAR “LIFE-ENCRYPTED ASSET” TRACK FOR WALL STREET. AGENCIES CAN NOW NOT ONLY PURCHASE ENCRYPTED MONEY, BUT ALSO “HIRE” THESE ENCRYPTED MONEY TO WORK FOR THEM THROUGH A COMPLIANCE ETF TOOL. THIS HAS FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED THE RULES OF THE GAME。

Why did the price drop under the "great good"

AS WALL STREET CHEERED FOR THE ETF VICTORY, ALL THE TRADERS WHO WERE STARING AT THE K-LINE WERE IN GREAT CONFUSION:

IF ETF HAD BEEN IN FOR ALMOST $200 MILLION IN THE FIRST WEEK, WHY WAS SOL PRICE FALLING

THE DATA SHOW THAT INSTEAD OF RISING, THE PRICE OF SOL RETURNED SIGNIFICANTLY AFTER THE ETF WAS INTRODUCED. ON 30 OCTOBER, PRICES FELL BY 8 PER CENT A DAY AND, AT ONE POINT, BY 27 PER CENT FROM THE RECENT HIGH OF AUGUST, FELL TO A MINIMUM NEAR $163, WELL BELOW THE EXPECTED $300。

“INCREASED INFLOWS AND FALLING PRICES” — THIS ANOMALY HAS CAUGHT MANY BY SURPRISE. BUT TO DIG DEEP INTO THE DATA, YOU'LL FIND IT'S NOT A SIGN OF ETF FAILURE, BUT RATHER A RESULT OF FOUR POWERFUL FORCES COMING TOGETHER:

• "Sell the News: It's the classic. A large number of short-line traders who ambushed the ETF several weeks (and even months) before its approval focused their profits on the moment the news landed。
• HISTORY REPEATS (BITCOIN): THIS IS THE SAME PATTERN THAT FOLLOWED THE INTRODUCTION OF BITCOIN ETF IN JANUARY 2024. AT THAT TIME, BTC PRICES ALSO EXPERIENCED A FLAT AND DECLINING (ABOUT -5 PER CENT) AFTER THE ETF LAUNCH, DESPITE STRONG INFLOWS. THE REAL REBOUND STARTED A FEW WEEKS LATER WHEN THE PRESSURE OF “SELLING NEWS” WAS FULLY ABSORBED。
• Macro's perfect storm: Solara ETF's launch is called a hell of a lot. It's just hit the whole encrypted market with a wave of protection. During the same period (week of 27 October), Bitcoin ETF was experiencing a massive outflow of $600 million to $946 million, with the market as a whole “blood loss”。
• The whale was sold: it was the deadliest blow. The chain data show that the trading giant Jump Crypto converted 1.1 million SOLs (value about $205 million) into bitcoin on October 30, the day after BSOL was listed。

Now, let's put together all the clues:

IN A “PERFECT STORM” OF “NEWS SELLING” MOODS, WITH BITCOIN ETF BLEEDING AT OVER 600 MILLION, A GIANT WHALE SOLD $205 MILLION TO THE MARKET。

THIS IS SUFFICIENT TO TRIGGER THE COLLAPSE OF SOL PRICES IN NORMAL MARKET CONDITIONS。

However, during the last week of October 2025, this huge sale of $205 million was absorbed almost perfectly by the $199.2 million in new institutional purchases brought by Solana ETF (mainly BSOL)。

AND THAT'S THE TRUTH: THE INFLOW OF SOL ETF, IN THE MIDST OF THE OVERALL MARKET BLOODSHED, IS AMAZING“Relative strength and weakness”I don't know. A group of new institutional investors (ETF buyers) are facing the sale of another group of old institutions (Jump Crypto). This is not just a space for air, but a strong long-term look signal. This attests to the emergence of a powerful and dynamic new institutional buyout。

04 Solana ETF, where are we going

THE NEXT QUESTION ON WALL STREET IS: HOW MUCH MONEY CAN IT ABSORB? ON THIS ISSUE, THERE IS A GREAT DEAL OF DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN ENCRYPTION COMPANIES AND TRADITIONAL FINANCIAL GIANTS:

• Seeing the camp (involved): Grayscale's research manager, Zach Pandl, predicts that Solana ETPs may absorb 5 per cent of Solana's total supply over the next one to two years, which, at current prices, is equivalent to an inflow of more than $5 billion。
• Cautionary camps (traditional finance): The giant JP Morgan (Morgan Chase) is “incompetent”. In a report, they forecast net inflows to Solara ETF in the first year to be only $1.5 billion。

Why is Morgan Chase so conservative? Their reasons are: “weak institutional awareness of Solana” and concerns about the “increasing dominance of Meme coin trading” in their network activities。

Morgan Chase's concerns represent the general anxiety of traditional finance: is Solana a high-tech financial infrastructure or is it a meme-money casino full of speculators

However, just two days after the ETF came on the market, a “new money” came to an end to the debate on Solana “the casino or the capital”。

On 30 October 2025, the Western Union announced a major strategic initiative: Western Union has chosen the Solana block chain as its distribution network for its new stable currency, U.S. Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), to be launched in the first half of 2026。

Western Union remittances clearly stated in the bulletin that Solana was chosen because of its “high performance”, “high throughput, low cost and immediate settlement”。

This news is much more powerful than ETF. It perfectly answered Morgan Chase questions. You're not going to set up a global remittance network at a Memeco Casino. Western Union money transfers place its future core business on Solana, which is the strongest endorsement of Solana's “financial infrastructure”。

Summary

The approval of Solana ETF is not an end point, but an order gun for a new era. It clearly shows two parallel tracks for the institution using Solana:

• Financialization track (ETF): Wall Street Asset Management Company (e.g. Bitwise) is packaging SOL as a “interestable” financial asset for sale to its institutional clients。
• Infrastructure track (WAM): Global firms (e.g. Western Union) are building their own core business on Solana as a “low-cost” financial infrastructure。

The two tracks will reinforce each other. The introduction of Western Union remittances provides the strongest basic support for those buying ETFs; and the huge AUM and professional pledge brought by ETFs (the “New Wall Street” narrative in Bitwise), in turn, provides a safer and more stable network for builders such as Western Union remittances。

When Morgan Chase was still worried about the “mime currency”, Bitwise and Western Union remittances had proved by action that Solana was not just New Wall Street, it was a “new infrastructure” for Wall Street and global payments. Financialized and infrastructuralized flyships have simultaneously begun to accelerate rotation。