CME Group to launch Solana futures on March 17 as ETF momentum builds

CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, is set to launch Solana (SOL) futures on March 17, pending regulatory review — further expanding its crypto derivatives offerings beyond bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH).

The new contracts will come in two sizes: a micro-sized contract covering 25 SOL and a larger contract covering 500 SOL, CME said Friday. The confirmation follows earlier speculation after CME's staging website suggested that Solana and XRP futures were in the pipeline, pending regulatory approval.

"With the launch of our new SOL futures contracts, we are responding to increasing client demand for a broader set of regulated products to manage cryptocurrency price risk," said Giovanni Vicioso, Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products at CME Group. "As Solana continues to evolve into the platform of choice for developers and investors, these new futures contracts will provide a capital-efficient tool to support their investment and hedging strategies."

Recent Solana ETF filings

In recent months, asset managers — including Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, Grayscale and 21Shares — have filed applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch spot Solana exchange-traded funds.

The SEC has acknowledged several of these filings, with decisions expected later this year. Analysts are optimistic about approval, with JPMorgan recently projecting that Solana ETFs could attract between $2.7 billion and $5.2 billion in inflows during their first months of trading.

With Solana futures set to launch on CME, the path for a spot ETF approval could become clearer, as futures typically serve as a precursor for regulatory approval of spot ETFs.

"CME's decision to list SOL contracts today significantly increases the possibility that corresponding spot ETF applications could be approved in the foreseeable future," Sui Chung, CEO of Kraken-owned CF Benchmarks, said in a statement to The Block.

"A regulated futures market has been the SEC's primary pre-requisite to approve a spot crypto ETF, as it gives the regulator confidence that perpetrators of market manipulation can be identified, acting as a deterrent, and thus protecting ETF investors. While an exact timeline for approval is hard to discern, it's probable the SEC will want to see several months' worth of trading on the CME and be satisfied that the futures correlate with the spot market before it looks to approve ETF applications for SOL."

Earlier this week, two proposed Solana futures exchange-traded funds — the Volatility Shares Solana ETF (SOLZ) and Volatility Shares 2x Solana ETF (SOLT) — appeared on the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) list, marking a step toward a potential market launch.

Solana's SOL token is currently trading at around $146, reflecting a 6% increase over the past 24 hours, according to The Block's Solana price page.