By asset
Solana ETFs: the staking-first category
Solana funds were built to stake from day one. BSOL, GSOL, QSOL and the rest compared on management fee, the separate reward fee, and what actually reaches you.
Solana funds had an advantage of timing. Ether products launched in July 2024 into a regime that would not let them stake, and spent eighteen months holding a productive asset unproductively. Solana products launched from late 2025, after that argument had been resolved — so most of them stake by default.
That makes this the first US crypto ETF category designed around yield from the start, and it puts a number on the fact sheet that most investors do not know to look for.
The US Solana funds
| Ticker | Fund | Issuer | Management fee | Stakes | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BSOL | Bitwise Solana Staking ETF | Bitwise | 0.20% | Yes | ~$545M |
| GSOL | Grayscale Solana Staking ETF | Grayscale | 0.19% | Yes | ~$100M |
| QSOL | Invesco Galaxy Solana ETF | Invesco / Galaxy | See issuer | Yes | See issuer |
| FSOL | Fidelity Solana Fund | Fidelity | See issuer | See issuer | See issuer |
| VSOL | VanEck Solana ETF | VanEck | See issuer | See issuer | See issuer |
| TSOL | 21Shares Solana ETF | 21Shares | See issuer | See issuer | See issuer |
Where a figure shows “see issuer”, we could not verify a stable published number at review. Invesco Galaxy’s QSOL began trading 15 December 2025. Confirm fees and the separate staking reward fee on each issuer’s fact sheet.
Staking built in from day one
Solana is a proof-of-stake network: holders delegate SOL to validators, which secure the chain and earn rewards from issuance and fees. A fund holding SOL can delegate that stake and pass rewards through to shareholders.
Both leading funds do. Bitwise's BSOL holds actual SOL in institutional cold storage and actively stakes its holdings to generate network rewards. Grayscale's GSOL offers direct exposure to the Solana price alongside staking yield.
The mechanics are the same as on the ether side: the trust delegates a portion of its holdings, a staking provider runs the infrastructure, rewards accrue in SOL, the sponsor takes a cut, and the remainder reaches shareholders. The full walkthrough of that chain is in Ethereum staking ETFs, and it applies here almost unchanged.
The reward fee: the number to actually check
This is where the category gets interesting, and where a naive fee comparison misleads you.
GSOL charges an annual management fee of 0.19% — cheaper than BSOL's 0.20%. It also charges a fee on staking rewards of around 7%. So the fund with the lower headline number takes a larger slice of the yield.
| Fee | What it applies to | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Management fee | The entire position, annually | The number in every comparison table. GSOL 0.19%, BSOL 0.20%. |
| Staking reward fee | Only the rewards earned | Rarely in comparison tables. GSOL has charged around 7% of rewards. |
| Unstaked buffer | Reduces the share of the fund earning rewards | Not a fee, but has the same effect on your net yield. |
To compare two staking funds properly you need the network staking rate, each fund's staked proportion, its reward fee and its management fee. Only the last is easy to find, which is our main criticism of how these products are disclosed.
How to buy one
- Any brokerage or IRA account works
These trade like any listed ETF, commission-free at the major US brokers — and Vanguard specifically named Solana funds among those it permitted when it opened its platform on 2 December 2025. See brokers compared.
- Compare both fees before choosing
Management fee and reward fee, from the issuer's own fact sheet.
- Favour the larger fund unless the fee gap is large
BSOL's roughly $545 million against GSOL's $99.7 million is a real liquidity difference at this scale.
- Use a limit order
Non-negotiable in a category this size. Books are far thinner than the large Bitcoin funds and quotes widen quickly. See limit orders.
- Prefer a retirement account if you have the room
Staking distributions add an income element whose treatment in taxable accounts is unsettled. Inside an IRA the question disappears — see Roth IRA and 401(k).
Direct staking keeps the whole reward
No management fee on the position, no percentage of rewards to the sponsor, no unstaked buffer. CEX.IO is registered with FinCEN as a money services business, licensed for money transmission across US states, and authorised by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission under a regime that covers staking services.
Scale and flows
Cumulative Solana ETF inflows reached about $1.16 billion by mid-2026 — genuine demand, and a fraction of the bitcoin or ether categories. At one point during 2026, XRP funds held a lead of roughly $270 million over Solana products, so within the altcoin group the two have been running close.
BSOL's roughly $545.5 million makes it comfortably the category leader, with GSOL at about $99.7 million. That distribution matters: a fund holding a hundred million dollars quotes noticeably wider than one holding half a billion, and both quote wider than IBIT.
As with every other altcoin category, the launches did not translate into sustained price appreciation through 2026. Approval tends to be anticipated and priced before it happens — the evidence is in do ETF flows move the price.
Solana-specific risks
- Two-layer fee opacity. The reward fee is real, material and absent from most comparison tables.
- Unstaking queues behind redemptions. Staked assets are not instantly available. In a stressed market with heavy redemptions, that can widen the discount to net asset value and make arbitrage less reliable — see NAV and premiums.
- Thin liquidity outside the leader. Spreads on smaller funds can exceed the annual fee on a single round trip.
- Consolidation. Six or more funds sharing a category of this size implies some will close, and a liquidating trust distributes cash — a taxable event on its schedule.
- Asset risk. Solana's own history includes network outages and high volatility. The wrapper changes none of that.
Our take from the desk
The staking design makes these funds a better product than the first generation of ether funds were, and the disclosure has not kept pace. When a fund can charge 0.19% on the position and around 7% on the rewards, a table that lists only the first number is not telling you the price. Until net distribution rates are published as prominently as management fees, we would treat the fee column on any Solana fund comparison — including the one on this page — as incomplete by construction.