Solana (SOL) Jumps 6% After VanEck Pitches Application for U.S.-Based ETF

The crypto market's bearish slide in June began showing signs of recovery this week, as bullish news revived investor interest across a variety of altcoins.

The crypto market experienced contrasting fortunes this week, with some altcoins rallying while major assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) slipped further.

Triggered by positive developments and anticipation, Solana (SOL) surged over 6% to cross $142. The rally came after VanEck filed the first application for a U.S.-based Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Following suit, 21Shares also filed for a Solana ETF on Friday, generating further buzz.

In a bid to rally support for the ETF, the logic applied was that if regulators deemed Ethereum a commodity to be worthy of an ETF, then Solana, being several times smaller, would also meet the necessary criteria.

Solana’s listing on FTX.US also contributed to the narrative of the cryptocurrency being suitable for a U.S. ETF.

Solana’s gains were mirrored by other smart contract platforms, with Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX) and Polkadot (DOT) rising around 5.5%, 11% and 7%, respectively.

Among the top gainers was Toncoin (TON), which recovered some of its gains from earlier this month. After a steep correction last week, TON rose over 5% in the past seven days.

The coin, linked to the Telegram blockchain, surged to become the ninth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surpassing Dogecoin.

Another coin that defied the market trend was Kaspa (KAS), ranked among the top 25 cryptocurrencies by market cap.

The coin soared 23% this week following an announcement by Marathon Digital that it had begun mining the cryptocurrency.

According to the miner, it has generated $15 million in KAS since September 2023, with some batches yielding gross profits of 95% for the miner's efforts.

Meanwhile, Blast (BLAST) became a focal point for traders as the token tied to the Ethereum layer-2 network finally launched.

The launch was accompanied by a substantial airdrop that placed over $354 million in user wallets — although some disappointment was expressed on Crypto Twitter over the relatively small size of the airdrops for early supporters.

Despite the market downturn, the airdrop did indeed serve to enrich many users, and BLAST began to recover from the significant selloffs it faced earlier.

Currently, the token is down around 29% from its peak this week and trades at a price of nearly $0.021, giving it a market cap of about $360 million.

In a stark contrast to the market movements, political meme coins experienced wild fluctuations.

Following President Joe Biden's widely perceived poor performance in the debate, the Solana-based “Jeo Boden” (BODEN) token crashed 52% in a single day.

The token's decline mirrored a drop in crypto bettors' odds for Biden's re-election.

On the other hand, Donald Trump, who many crypto proponents viewed as the debate's victor despite his persistent falsehoods, also saw his “Doland Tremp” (TREMP) token plummet late Thursday into Friday.

However, despite the decline, TREMP is still showing a 13% gain for the week.

The varying fortunes and diverse narratives in the crypto market continue to present opportunities and challenges for investors as they navigate the ever-shifting landscape.