Update (April 14 at 9:12 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a comment from the Ontario Securities Commission.

Spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are set to launch in Canada on April 16, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas.

Canada's Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has approved several asset managers to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) holding Solana (SOL), a Bloomberg analyst has said.

In an X post on April 14, Eric Balchunas shared a private client note from Canadian financial institution TD Bank, claiming the regulator greenlighted asset managers Purpose, Evolve, CI and 3iQ to issue ETFs holding SOL.

Canada does not have a federal securities agency, with its territories and provinces applying their own securities laws. Toronto’s securities exchange is regulated by Ontario’s OSC.

The ETFs are permitted to stake a portion of the SOL holdings for added yield, Balchunas said, adding that the upcoming listings are "our first look at the alt coin race."

In a statement to Cointelegraph, the OSC said the approval and oversight of SOL ETFs are in accordance with a January notice outlining amending rules for publicly traded funds holding cryptocurrencies.

"The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is focused on ensuring that Canadian investors are protected and have access to a fair and efficient market. In January 2024, the OSC announced proposed changes to the rules for publicly traded funds in Canada to provide greater clarity and consistency in the regulation of crypto-currency ETFs.

These amendments, which came into effect on April 1, 2024, are part of the OSC's ongoing efforts to keep pace with rapidly evolving financial markets and technologies. The approval and oversight of any SOL ETFs would be in accordance with these rules and regulations."

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged dozens of applications to list ETFs holding alternative cryptocurrencies, or “altcoins,” but so far has only approved funds holding Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) for trading.

Staking is still off limits for U.S. crypto ETFs. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said ether ETFs could be greenlighted to begin staking as soon as May, but the process may take several months.

However, investors’ demand for altcoin ETFs may be weaker than for funds holding core cryptocurrencies, Katalin Tischhauser, crypto bank Sygnum’s research head, told Block Decoded in August.

“[T]here is all this frothy excitement in the market about these ETFs coming, and no one can really point to where substantial demand is going to come from,” Tischhauser said.