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.

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.

A large bank just enabled clients borrowing up to 25% LTV on the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF $BSOL

Awesome to see the continued integration of crypto into the mainstream.

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— Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) August 11, 2026

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 The lender’s unpublished agreement would determine what happens if BSOL falls, including whether the customer must add collateral, repay part of the balance, or face a sale of pledged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.

Nasdaq has agreed to acquire LeveL Markets, the third-largest alternative trading system in the US by trading volume, as part of its push into tokenized and always-on markets.

According to Nasdaq, LeveL Markets processes hundreds of millions of shares daily and serves more than 2,500 buy- and sell-side clients. The venue will operate within Nasdaq’s new Digital Liquidity Networks unit, led by Roland Chai, who has overseen the company’s digital assets strategy since earlier this year.

Nasdaq first invested in LeveL Markets in 2021. The platform has since grown to execute trades across more than 7,000 symbols daily and serves more than 300 institutional buy-side firms, with average daily trading volume increasing 56% in 2025.

Tuesday’s announcement said LeveL Markets will remain a FINRA-regulated ATS with its own management team following the acquisition. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the deal remains subject to regulatory approval.

Nasdaq said the acquisition will add LeveL’s institutional execution network to its broader push toward programmable, “always-on” markets. The Digital Liquidity Networks unit combines liquidity platforms, tokenization capabilities and digital asset technology.

Related: Tokenized RWA surge to $4T may push LINK to $200 by end-2030: Standard Chartered

Nasdaq expands push into tokenized, always-on markets

Nasdaq first proposed allowing tokenized securities to trade on its exchange in September 2025. A January 2026 SEC filing updating the proposal said eligible stocks and exchange-traded products could trade in tokenized form alongside traditional shares, with Depository Trust Company handling tokenization and blockchain-based settlement through a three-year pilot program.

In March, Nasdaq expanded its efforts with a partnership with Kraken and tokenization firm Backed to develop infrastructure linking traditional equities with blockchain networks.

Other exchange operators are also moving toward longer trading hours. Cboe and the London Stock Exchange are pursuing similar plans, while the New York Stock Exchange is developing a separate platform for 24/7 trading and onchain settlement of tokenized securities.

In July, the SEC announced a Sept. 17 roundtable on the shift toward 24-hour US equity trading, with US Securities and Exchange Commission hair Paul Atkins saying, “We are moving towards a new day – and night – in the US equity markets.”

Over the past year, the tokenized equities market has grown more than sixfold, with distributed value rising to nearly $2.5 billion today from around $381 million in August 2025, according to RWA.xyz data.

Tokenized equities. Souce: RWA.xyz

Magazine: Thailand’s 0% crypto tax. Bitcoin Red Team forced to use Chinese AI: Asia Express

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ARP Digital, an institutional digital asset infrastructure provider, has secured a broker-dealer license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, allowing the Bahrain-based firm to offer regulated conversions between digital assets and the UAE dirham.

According to ARP Digital, the license covers United Arab Emirates-based corporates, capital markets participants and qualified investors, including conversions between stablecoins and dirhams. The company said it will also provide institutions with a regulated route to convert digital asset capital for deployment into local UAE assets.

The approval marks ARP Digital’s second regulated Gulf market. The firm is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, where it says it has processed more than $3.5 billion in volume for over 450 institutional and corporate counterparties, with fourfold year-over-year growth in 2025.

ARP Digital offers institutional services including over-the-counter liquidity, cross-border settlement, fiat on- and off-ramps and wealth management.

The approval comes as Dubai continues to expand its regulated digital asset sector. In July, VARA issued its 50th virtual asset service provider license. The regulator, established in 2022, oversees the provision, use and exchange of virtual assets in and from Dubai.

Flowdesk, a crypto market maker backed by Coinbase Ventures and BlackRock, also received a full VARA broker-dealer license on Tuesday, allowing it to serve qualified and institutional investors in and from the emirate.

Magazine: Thailand’s 0% crypto tax. Bitcoin Red Team forced to use Chinese AI: Asia Express

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Closing the GRAS loophole

Although mainstream media covered insiders’ massive unlock of 911.5 million SpaceX shares worth $101 billion on August 6, very few people realize that an additional unlock on that date failed because SpaceX’s stock price had crashed so badly.

That second, bonus tranche of 455.8 million shares required SpaceX to close at or above $175.50 per share, i.e. 30% above the formal $135 IPO price, for at least five of 10 trading days leading into its August 4 earnings report.

SpaceX held nowhere close to that threshold in Nasdaq trading. The condition failed.

The market capitalization of SpaceX was only able to reach its momentary, $3 trillion peak because Elon Musk floated only a tiny quantity of shares in the IPO.

Artificially limiting supply far below demand for his popular company created a three-day surge from $150 to $225.64 per share. 

That was the peak. A swift retracement followed once investors started to prepare for insiders to unlock and sell their allocations.

SpaceX insiders fail to unlock 455.8 million shares

By the first unlock on August 6, SpaceX had declined 38% from its peak.

On that day, 911.5 million more shares came out of lockup. The supply increased by $101 billion of newly tradable stock, yet almost nobody asked why an additional tranche of 455.8 million shares stayed locked.

The answer, per SpaceX’s own prospectus, is that Musk’s stock crashed so badly.

Because the company failed to maintain a trading range at least 30% above the $135 IPO price within the 10 trading days prior to its inaugural earnings report, the bonus stayed locked.

It was nowhere close. Of all 10 closing prices within the trading window, zero cleared $175.50. The best of them, $125.33 on earnings day itself, missed the bar by an embarrassing 29%.

The earnings report wasn’t the problem. Revenue nearly doubled, and finance chief Bret Johnsen said “2026 has been a momentous year so far, and the second quarter demonstrated the true power of SpaceX.”

Read more: Some SpaceX bonds have already sunk to junk-like territory

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Elon Musk blames short-sellers

Protos has chronicled the slide in SpaceX shares since last month, including analyst research coverage by its IPO-underwriting banks that invariably rated it “Buy.”

Despite their glowing, self-interested forecasts, the stock fell 53% from its June 16 peak to an all-time low of $104.83 by August 3.

Skeptical short-sellers had amassed a roughly $25 billion position by late July, about a third of the float. Enraged, Musk posted, “The survival probability of firms who maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low.” 

The stock printed its all-time low less than three weeks after Musk posted.

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The survival probability of firms who maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 17, 2026

Musk had no stake in these particular deadline either way. His 6.4 billion shares remain locked until June 2027, and no performance trigger can release them early.

The market, for its part, shrugged off the unlock that did happen. SPCX climbed 3% by late morning on unlock day and ended the session up 6%. The next day, it added another 16%.

By Monday, it had closed back above its $135 IPO price for the first time since mid-July.

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The rebound arrived four trading days after it could no longer help unlock insiders’ 455.8 million restricted shares. 

At $175.50 per share, this bonus tranche that never unlocked was worth about $80 billion — and now cannot be sold. Quite the missed payday.

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