CME Group is scheduled to launch Solana Futures on March 17th

Suzanne McGee

(Reuters) – CME Group said Friday it plans to roll out futures contracts at Cryptocurrency Solana on March 17th, waiting for regulatory review.

The exchange said it plans to debut two contracts for “micro-sized” contracts for 500 Solana coins and 25 Solana.

“We’re committed to providing a range of services to our customers,” said Giovanni Vicioso, global head of cryptocurrency products at CME.

If the product has obtained a regulatory stamp of approval, the launch will clear the method of approval of funds traded on the exchange tied to Solana.

The first application for approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an ETF related to Solana spot prices was made in June 2024 by Vaneck and Digital Assets Manager 21Shares. Most recently, Franklin Templeton filed a similar application last Friday.

The SEC may want to see months’ worth of trading on new Solana futures contracts before approving these ETFs, said Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, a crypto indexing company.

The decision “significantly increases” the likelihood of approval, Chong said.

“The regulated futures market was a key prerequisite for the SEC to approve SPOT Crypto ETFs.”

That’s because it gives us confidence that it can bring at least a portion of cryptocurrency transactions within the scope of US regulators and identify people trying to manipulate the market.

The asset management company has submitted numerous applications to launch ETFs tied to Solana as well as several other crypto tokens, including XRP and Litecoin. Analysts say a wave of new applications has risen to numbers since the US presidential election last November. The crypto industry has widely viewed Trump as a crypto-friendly president and welcomed the move to overhaul digital asset regulations last month.

(Reporting by Suzanne McGee of New York)