Summary Solana ETF from Volatility Shares offers exposure to Solana (SOL-USD) via futures contracts, not direct asset ownership. The fund performs more in line with Solana than competing products that are either closed-end or C-Corp structures. Solana is a compelling buy with a top 3 stablecoin footprint among public chains and a lower price to fees multiple than Ethereum or BNB. As we approach the potential approval of US-listed spot Solana ( SOL-USD ) ETFs in mid-October, there are a variety of different ways traders may look to speculate on a positive outcome for the US market. One such product is the Solana ETF ( SOLZ ) from Volatility Shares. Unlike most of the other products in the market, SOLZ is a futures-based ETF and has no direct exposure to the underlying asset. In this article, we'll look at the fund details for SOLZ, compare it to alternative products, and assess whether Solana could be an outperforming token in the Digital Asset market at this juncture. Fund Details SOLZ Holdings (Volatility Shares) Launched in March, the Solana ETF from Volatility Shares is a futures-based product that allows traders/investors to get exposure to the price of the SOL token through an easy-to-buy ETF wrapper. The fund has over $231 million in AUM which makes it larger than SOL-proxy products that have been in the market for a longer period of time. Fund Assets $231.7 million Shares Outstanding 9,070,000 Expense Ratio 1.15% Fund Inception 03/10/2025 Source: Volatility Shares, as of 9/16/25 One quick note on the expense ratio: the 1.15% figure is currently discounted by Volatility Shares for the first year of trading and the net expense ratio is currently 0.95%. As of market close on September 17th, the fund shares have a net asset value of $25.54 per share and a closing price of $25.55. For all intents and purposes, this fund trades generally at or close to NAV. This is important because, as we'll see in the next section, not all SOL-proxies can claim this. Peer Comparison Despite the lack of a spot ETF currently, there are several ways investors and traders can play the Solana price in a traditional brokerage account. For the purpose of comparison, we'll be looking at SOLZ relative to the following: Grayscale Solana Trust ( GSOL ) Osprey Solana Trust ( OSOL ) REX-Osprey SOL+Staking ETF ( SSK ) Each of the SOL-based products above offers investors exposure to the asset, but they function slightly differently. This table below shows differences in market cap, fees, and structure: Solana Exposure Expense Ratio Market Cap Structure Native Yield? Solana ETF 0.95% $211.83M Futures Fund No REX-Osprey SOL 1.40% $273.34M C-Corp Yes Grayscale Solana Trust 2.50% $62.37M Closed end No Osprey Solana Trust 2.50% $30.33M Closed End No Sources: Seeking Alpha, fund managers The big benefit of a fund like REX Shares-Osprey versus the alternative is it offers investors the ability to have exposure to staked-Solana for native yield. This is important because Solana currently has an inflation rate of 4.9% and staking yield rate of 6.8%. None of the funds mentioned offer shareholders the ability to redeem the assets underlying the fund shares. Given this, one would think the REX-Osprey fund has the best total return after fees. Yet, since the inception of that fund on July 1st, it is actually GSOL that is beating the rest of the pack: Solana Products (Seeking Alpha) Since July 1st, GSOL has had a 69% total return versus a 39% total return for SSK. At 55%, SOLZ has been the closest to the true performance of Solana, by far. The outperformance of GSOL and the underperformance of OSOL are due to the closed end nature of how those products are structured. OSOL vs GSOL NAV Rate YTD as of 9/17/25 (Osprey/Grayscale, Analyst's Chart) The chart above shows the year to date trend in premium/discount to NAV for both funds. Interestingly, they traded at relatively close premiums through the first four months of the year. That changed in May when OSOL started trading at a discount and GSOL continued trending toward a higher premium. The biggest reason why GSOL has outperformed SOLZ is simply because the premium has increased from essentially NAV break-even on July 2nd to a 13% premium as of July 17th. In my view, this makes GSOL a 'sell' relative to funds like SOLZ or OSOL and I've argued that several times in the past . Solana Still Looks Good As a digital asset worth exploring, Solana actually looks pretty good from where I sit. Last month, I argued that Solana would be the next big DAT winner and so far I think that thesis is holding up well. Data by YCharts Since my Solana article on August 28th, SOL has appreciated by more than 20%. This is better than Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ), Ethereum ( ETH-USD ), and Ripple/XRP ( XRP-USD ); each of which have larger market caps than SOL. Stablecoin Supply (DeFi Llama) In the all important stablecoin race, Solana has the third largest supply of stablecoins minted on the blockchain. With the exception of Tron ( TRX-USD ) which trades a minuscule 7x circulating fees multiple, Solana is the cheapest of the major smart contract chains by circulating P/F with large stablecoin supplies: L1 P/F Comparison (Token Terminal) At an average circulating P/F multiple of 237x in September, Solana is far cheaper than Ethereum or BNB Chain ( BNB-USD ) even though it has more daily active addresses, does more daily transactions, and is comparable in fees. To be sure, Ethereum has a larger stablecoin supply and processes more stablecoin transactions. Still, as an altcoin with a favorable setup, I think Solana is in a good position. Summary I'm of the view that now is a good time to maintain a long SOL position. I take that view for two reasons: first, Solana is a high throughput, fast, cheap chain that maintains a top 3 stablecoin footprint in the public blockchain space. Second, it's cheap relative to major peers and has a DAT bid that I believe is just getting started. I wouldn't overweight it against something like Ethereum, but I do think it's a coin to overweight against Bitcoin. I've said for several months that I think Bitcoin's cycle top is either close to current levels or already in . As I see it, major alts like ETH and SOL are good hedges against that thesis. In the event I'm wrong about Bitcoin being at or near its peak, I suspect the large alts will outperform. If I'm correct that Bitcoin is at or near cycle peak, I think coins with strong utility will weather the storm better than those that are purely speculative. I put Solana in the utility category. As far as playing the Solana bull thesis, I think SOLZ will work perfectly fine until there is a spot ETF in the United States. At that point, I would expect it to underperform. For those who want SOL access through a traditional brokerage, I'm going to initiate SOLZ with a 'buy.'
