- ARK Invest added 500,000 shares of 3iQ’s Solana Staking ETF (SOLQ) to ARKW and ARKF, gaining exposure to both SOL price and staking rewards via a Canada-listed product.
- The move bypassed US regulatory hurdles by leveraging Canadian approval, making ARK’s funds the first US-listed ETFs with direct staked Solana exposure.
ARK Invest has become the first US-listed fund manager to offer exposure to Solana staking… through Canadian regulators.
The Cathie Wood-led firm added 500,000 shares of Canada’s 3iQ Solana Staking ETF (SOLQ) across two of its ETFs, ARK Next Generation Internet (ARKW) and ARK Fintech Innovation (ARKF), in a US$5.2M (AU$8.1M) move revealed on Monday, according to a report from Citywire.
The allocation provides both funds with direct access to Solana’s spot price and staking rewards, thereby bypassing US regulatory gridlock by leveraging a product listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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Canada Moving Forward With Solana Staking
SOLQ launched last week alongside a small wave of Canadian Solana ETFs from Purpose Investments, Evolve ETFs, and CI Global. All were greenlit by the Ontario Securities Commission and are built to give investors a simple way to access Solana price action and staking rewards through a traditional market wrapper.
According to ARK, the move makes ARKW and ARKF “the first US-listed ETFs to gain exposure to Solana”, skirting US regulatory delays by going through a vehicle listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The funds already hold positions in Coinbase, Robinhood, and Block—and now, indirectly, in Solana’s staking economy.
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The SEC has yet to approve any spot Solana ETFs, although futures-based funds did get the green light in March. Volatility Shares launched two derivatives-backed products, SOLZ and the leveraged SOLT, but neither provides direct exposure to staked SOL.
Solana is retaining its spot as the second-largest smart contract chain by total value locked, behind only Ethereum. According to DeFiLlama, Solana’s total value locked (TVL) stands at over US$7B (AU$10.8B).
