Crypto World
Bitwise Solana ETF approved for loans at 25% LTV
Bitwise’s Solana staking ETF has received approval from a major bank for customers to borrow up to 25% of their shares’ value, adding a lending function to the U.S.-listed crypto fund.
Summary
- A major bank has approved BSOL as loan collateral with a maximum 25% LTV.
- Borrowers may receive up to $25 for every $100 in pledged BSOL shares.
- BSOL held 8.18 million SOL worth $622 million as of Aug. 9.
- Bitwise reported a 5.84% net staking reward rate, with 99% of assets staked.
Bitwise co-founder and CEO Hunter Horsley disclosed the approval in an Aug. 11 X post, saying the unnamed bank would let its customers borrow against shares of the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF under a maximum 25% loan-to-value ratio.
Horsley welcomed the bank’s decision as another step in crypto’s integration with established financial services. His post did not identify the lender or state when the borrowing facility became available.
The disclosure also omitted the interest rate, minimum loan size, repayment period, and account requirements. Neither Bitwise nor the bank has published details on whether the facility applies to retail brokerage customers, private banking clients, or selected wealth-management accounts.
BSOL loans are capped at 25% of collateral value
Under the disclosed limit, a customer pledging $100,000 of BSOL could borrow no more than $25,000. The ETF shares would serve as collateral for the loan while remaining exposed to changes in the value of Solana.
A 25% LTV leaves the bank with $75 in collateral value above every $25 lent at the start of the transaction. The lender’s unpublished agreement would determine what happens if BSOL falls, including whether the customer must add collateral, repay part of the balance, or face a sale of pledged shares.
Horsley did not say whether the bank had approved BSOL across its lending platform or only after reviewing an individual customer’s portfolio. He also did not disclose whether other Bitwise funds qualify under the same policy.
The loan is secured by exchange-traded shares rather than SOL held in a private wallet. BSOL shareholders do not control the underlying tokens or their private keys, while the bank can value the listed shares using their market price and apply its existing securities-backed lending procedures.
Unlike a sale, borrowing against shares lets an approved customer obtain cash without immediately disposing of the position. According to the Internal Revenue Service, loan proceeds generally do not count as income because borrowers must repay them, although a later sale of collateral may create a taxable transaction.
Bitwise Solana ETF combines SOL exposure with staking
Launched on NYSE Arca in October 2025, BSOL gives U.S. investors direct exposure to SOL through a publicly traded product. Bitwise also stakes nearly all of the fund’s tokens so that staking rewards increase the assets supporting its shares.
As crypto.news reported, BSOL recorded $69.45 million in net inflows on its first trading day. The fund entered the market with a 0.20% management fee and a structure designed to track SOL’s value alongside rewards generated through the Solana network.
At its launch, Horsley described the product’s two main features in a Bitwise statement:
“Investors like growth potential, and investors like staking rewards. BSOL provides low-cost exposure to both.”
Bitwise’s official fund data showed that BSOL held 8,184,971.62 SOL with a market value of $622.02 million as of Aug. 9. Each share represented about 0.136735 SOL, while the fund’s holdings consisted entirely of the token.
BSOL reported a net asset value of $10.39 per share and a market price of $10.41 on the same date. The two-cent difference placed the shares slightly above the reported value of their underlying assets.
Staking covered 99% of the fund’s SOL holdings, compared with Bitwise’s target of 100%. The gross annualized staking reward rate averaged 6.21% over the preceding 90 days, while the net rate after staking-related fees stood at 5.84%, according to data published by the fund.
Bitwise states that staking rewards can change and do not represent BSOL’s investment performance. Movement in SOL’s market price can outweigh the tokens earned from staking, leaving shareholders exposed to substantial losses even when the fund continues to earn rewards.
BSOL added capital despite Solana’s first-half decline
BSOL drew $267.1 million in net subscriptions during the first half of 2026, according to its Aug. 7 quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Share issuance lifted the fund’s SOL holdings from about 5.15 million tokens at the end of 2025 to approximately 8.05 million by June 30.
Falling SOL prices still reduced BSOL’s net assets from $641.3 million to $592.3 million over the six-month period. Its net asset value per share dropped from $16.37 to $10.01, producing a negative 38.85% NAV return for the half-year.
The filing recorded $19.2 million in gross staking rewards and approximately $17.7 million in net investment income after expenses. Portfolio losses reached about $333.8 million, including $262.9 million in unrealized depreciation and $70.9 million in realized losses.
Earlier coverage of ETF demand found that BSOL controlled roughly 81% of assets accumulated by U.S. spot Solana funds by mid-May. Combined assets across products issued by Bitwise, Fidelity, and Grayscale had reached approximately $1.06 billion, although SOL continued to fall during the period.
BSOL had already crossed $500 million in assets within its first 18 trading days, according to Bitwise. Its first recorded daily withdrawal arrived on Dec. 15, when investors removed $4.6 million after a run of inflows that began with the fund’s October debut.
U.S. investors gain another use for listed crypto funds
For American investors, the bank’s approval adds BSOL to the securities that at least one lender accepts for collateralized borrowing. The policy does not mean the SEC or another federal regulator has approved BSOL specifically for loans, and Horsley’s post did not identify any regulatory decision tied to the bank’s action.
BSOL is structured as an exchange-traded product under the Securities Act of 1933. Bitwise’s disclosures state that it is not an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, leaving shareholders without some protections that apply to conventional registered ETFs and mutual funds.
The fund uses Coinbase Custody Trust Company to hold its SOL, according to its SEC filing. Bitwise Onchain Solutions, supported by Helius technology, handles staking, while BNY Mellon provides cash custody and transfer-agent services.
Voters cast ballots at a polling location inside John Jay High School during early voting for a primary election in the Brooklyn borough of New York, US, on Sunday, June 21, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Wisconsin sent prediction market platforms spinning last month when its election commission released a directive reminding voters that betting on elections — including via trades on event contract exchanges — is illegal in the state, based on a more than 175-year-old law.
What shocked people was the penalty that Wisconsin places on those who break its law: violators lose the right to vote in the election they bet on.
Prediction market platform Kalshi blasted the law. “This is blatantly unconstitutional and illegal,” Benjamin Freeman, head of politics growth at Kalshi, wrote in a post on X. Polymarket told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel it looked forward to addressing the claims through the appropriate legal process.
Wisconsin isn’t alone. Twenty-three states have laws on the books that ban betting on elections, according to Pew Research Center. New York also doesn’t allow voters to cast a ballot in an election that they’ve bet on, while in most of the other states violators can face fines or jail time for wagering on an election.
However, does the language in state laws apply to trades placed on event contracts? The answer depends on the state, but many aren’t sure.
Hotly contested
In Colorado, betting on an election is a class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to 120 days in jail or a $750 fine. Lawrence Pacheco, a spokesman for the Colorado state attorney general, was clear in a statement: “Colorado state law bars bets or wagers on elections, and that includes prediction markets.”
But few states were as direct as Colorado. A spokesperson for the New York attorney general said that the office has not made an official interpretation on its election betting statute and whether it applies to prediction market trades.
The office for the Arizona attorney general declined to comment on whether its law applies to election event contracts due to active litigation with prediction market platforms. Phil Bueler, a press secretary for the Tennessee attorney general, said that he cannot comment on what is essentially a request for a legal opinion about a “hotly contested issue.”
In March, the Maryland State Board of Elections in a memo to voters said that users should exercise caution when considering trading elections on prediction market platforms, warning that it could amount to violating the state’s law banning wagering on elections. Then, in July, the state’s administrator of elections Jared DeMarinis wrote a letter to the office of the state prosecutor to investigate whether prediction markets’ election offerings violate Maryland’s law.
“That’s why we did the March letter early,” DeMarinis said in an interview. “This is still in the early stages… and we need to make sure we seek clarity.” He added he is interested — if the current law is interpreted as not applying to prediction market trades — in seeking action from the state legislature to deliver that clarity.
Meanwhile, Nevada bans betting on elections, but court rulings have forced Polymarket and Kalshi to cease operating in the state. Due to court orders in Michigan, which also bans election wagering, Kalshi is currently in a total operational shutdown in the state while Polymarket only blocks residents’ access to its sports-related event contracts.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Ting Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A new battlefront
States are already fighting with the federal government over regulating prediction markets. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sees all event contracts as swaps, a derivative that it regulates, and thus believes companies fall under its jurisdiction, preempting any state law. States see the platforms’ offering of sports event contracts as gambling, an activity that they regulate.
However, elections may introduce a new line of defense for the states, according to legal experts. The U.S. Constitution explicitly gives the power of managing elections to the states, so they could argue in front of a court that power extends to regulating any form of placing money on said elections.
“I think the argument for the states having some place at the regulatory table with respect to elections is perhaps stronger from a preemption perspective,” said David Oliwenstein, a partner at Pillsbury and lead of the firm’s securities enforcement practice. “I think that the fact that the states have a clearly defined role… makes it a bit of an easier argument for the states to maintain jurisdiction.”
In 2024, a federal appeals court ruled that event contract platforms can feature election offerings. However, that decision overturned an intervention by the CFTC denying the listing of those contracts rather than offering a legal opinion on any state law regarding election wagering, though the commission used state laws on election bets as part of its reasoning for its denial at the time.
In this photo illustration, Apps for online prediction market sites are shown on an electronic device on Feb. 25, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
“States would have an argument that not only for local races but for even national races, where you have district level outcomes, state level outcomes, where there’s close elections, that there are a variety of collateral consequences to the the prospect of individuals betting on the outcomes of these races,” said Joshua Mitts, a professor at Columbia Law School.
In its lawsuit against Kalshi, New York not only argues that the platform’s sports contracts violate state gambling laws, but also points out the company’s culture and elections event contracts. The spokesperson for the New York attorney general added that the office doesn’t have a particular view on its jurisdiction over election contracts specifically, but rather believes it has the power to regulate all gambling in any form.
Even if states were to introduce this new argument in their battle with the federal government in courts, the CFTC’s argument likely would stay the same. That’s because no matter the topic on a prediction market, the underlying instrument — a swap — doesn’t change.
Kalshi made that point in a statement to CNBC. “The law is clear — regulated prediction markets are subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction,” spokeswoman Elisabeth Diana said.
A Polymarket spokesperson echoed that sentiment. “As courts have recognized, prediction markets on CFTC-registered exchanges are governed by federal law, not a patchwork of state rules.”
The CFTC did not respond to a request for comment.
Ian Thomas, a principal attorney in the commercial litigation practice group at Offit Kurman, agreed with the other legal experts that states could take the position in court that the constitutional right to manage elections gives them power over prediction markets’ related event contracts.
However, with sports making up the majority of prediction market platforms’ volumes, he said it’s unlikely those contracts fade from the central arguments.
“Sports is such a major aspect of these platforms that it really is where everyone’s primary focus is going to be,” Thomas said, “and I think once the question of sports gets resolved, it may lead to a more easy resolution of kind of where the boundaries are on these platforms on other topics.”
Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes customer acquisition and a minority investment.
Crypto World
CFTC orders Kalshi to continue offering prediction markets in New York after state lawsuit
“New York intends to make event contract derivatives waste away under its iron curtain of state gaming laws before the courts get the chance to issue final rulings,” he said. “These are financial exchanges that offer financial instruments and operate across state lines. They match the bid from a resident of one state with the offer of a resident from another state and submit the trade to a clearinghouse that backstops the transactions of customers throughout the country. New York has no business regulating these interstate financial markets.”
The CFTC had previously sued New York over its stance on prediction markets.
New York sued Kalshi on July 31 after a federal judge ruled against Kalshi’s bid to block the state from filing a lawsuit. New York alleged that Kalshi was violating its state gambling laws by offering sports prediction markets.
“Kalshi has failed to obtain a license from the New York State Gaming Commission (Gaming Commission), sidestepping its obligation to pay taxes like licensed casinos and mobile sports gambling platforms do,” a press release from the state said. “This tax revenue from gambling regulation funds public schools, sports programs for underserved youth, and problem gambling education and treatment.”
Kalshi moved to transfer the case to federal court; New York moved to transfer the case back. The motions are currently awaiting a judge’s ruling.
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) votes Friday, August 14, on proposing Regulation Crypto. The purpose-built offering regime would mark the agency’s first major crypto rulemaking under Chair Paul Atkins.
The Senate left for its August recess without passing the CLARITY Act. That bill would divide digital asset oversight between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
SEC Crypto Plans Take Shape Before Friday Vote
Congressional inaction hands regulators the near-term initiative. Official notices confirm the open meeting for 10 a.m. ET at the agency’s Washington headquarters, with a live webcast. The agenda lists a single item from the Division of Corporation Finance.
Commissioners will decide whether to propose rules that give token offerings a dedicated legal path. Qualifying projects could raise capital under exemptions instead of completing full securities registration. The vote covers a proposing release only, so the text remains under wraps until Friday.
The proposal grew out of Project Crypto, the regulatory package Atkins placed on the SEC’s 2026 agenda. Its planks include registration exemptions for token sales, safe harbors for decentralizing projects, and custody standards for broker-dealers.
Atkins told CNBC in late July that the agency stands ready to act alone, even though he still prefers legislation.
“Statute is the way to future-proof something,” Atkins said in the interview.
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Senate Recess Leaves Regulators in the Lead
Democrats blocked floor action over an ethics carve-out tied to President Trump’s crypto holdings, according to American Banker. Republicans Josh Hawley and Jerry Moran also objected to the bill’s stablecoin yield language, siding with community banks.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune says the measure will move first when lawmakers return, teeing up a possible September vote. However, the bill still needs 60 votes, and Thune’s cloture strategy depends on Democratic support that has yet to materialize.
Meanwhile, some analysts argue the industry can advance without the bill. Grayscale research head Zach Pandl said passage looks unlikely in 2026 either way.
CFTC Signals the Same Playbook
The SEC is not acting in isolation. CFTC Chair Michael Selig issued a parallel warning in a July Fox Business interview. Regulators would end up writing all the crypto rules if Congress fails to deliver, he cautioned. He still urged senators to pass the bill, calling federal certainty critical for business.
Both agencies already coordinate closely. Their March joint interpretive rule classified most tokens outside securities law and carved out staking, mining, and airdrops.
Still, Atkins concedes that agency action lacks permanence. A future administration could reverse rules that Congress never wrote into statute. That caveat also applies to the March guidance itself.
A yes vote on Friday would open a public comment period, not finalize anything. The proposal’s exemption thresholds and eligibility tests will reveal how far the SEC intends to go without Congress. September’s Senate return will then show whether lawmakers reclaim the pen.
The post SEC to Unveil Alternative Crypto Plans to the CLARITY Act appeared first on BeInCrypto.
MoneyGram has extended MoneyGram Ramps, its cash-to-crypto and crypto-to-cash API, to Solana, the company said Tuesday. Rift, a self-custody trading app, is the first Solana wallet to integrate it. Until now, Solana wallets that wanted to route users into MoneyGram's retail cash network had to… Read the full story at The Defiant
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