The blockchain infrastructure provider Figment has been appointed as the staking service for 3iQ’s newly sanctioned Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF), highlighting Canada’s ongoing advancements in the embrace of digital asset financial instruments.
Figment will facilitate institutional staking for the 3iQ Solana (SOL) Staking ETF, scheduled to debut on the Toronto Stock Exchange on April 16 under the ticker SOLQ, according to a statement from the companies. Besides 3iQ, Figment offers staking infrastructure solutions to over 700 clients.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), a provincial regulatory body, granted approval for 3iQ’s SOL fund on April 14. This endorsement was also given to other fund managers aiming to launch SOL ETFs, including Purpose, Evolve, and CI.
As Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted at the time, the funds are authorized to stake a segment of their SOL assets via TD Bank, Canada’s second-largest financial entity by assets.
Source: Eric Balchunas
3iQ anticipates that its SOL fund will produce yields ranging from 6% to 8%, based on information from its website.
Related: Solana, XRP ETFs could attract billions in fresh investment — JPMorgan
3iQ leads Canadian crypto ETFs while US regulators lag behind
While US regulators are still evaluating various crypto-related fund proposals, Canada has been at the forefront of adoption since 2021. That year, 3iQ launched its spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF, which surpassed $1 billion in net assets almost right away.
Nearly three additional years would pass before spot Bitcoin ETFs received approval in the United States. Similar to their Canadian counterparts, the US ETFs experienced tremendous success in their inaugural year, accumulating over $38 billion in net inflows.
In October 2023, 3iQ launched an ETF related to Ether (ETH), providing investors with direct access to the smart contract platform. In contrast to the Ether ETFs approved by US regulators the following year, 3iQ’s fund also features staking rewards.
As Cointelegraph recently reported, US regulators might soon approve staking rewards after allowing exchanges to list options contracts tied to ETH.
Source: James Seyffart
Related: SEC postpones staking decision for Grayscale ETH ETFs
