On November 22, Solana achieved a new all-time high on Coinbase, two years after the FTX collapse that had previously dragged down its prices. Solana's SOL reached $264.31 on Coinbase, as per TradingView, following an impressive 11% gain over the past 24 hours. SOL has been one of the top-performing altcoins this year, rising 160% since the start of 2024. The asset had plummeted to just under $10 in December 2022 after the downfall of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire.
This week's filings from Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital to launch spot Solana exchange-traded funds have fueled momentum for the asset. Analysts predict SOL could reach as high as $400 after surpassing the previous all-time high of $260.
Solana's popularity and demand for SOL have been largely driven by memecoin speculation this cycle, as it is affordable and easy to mint on the network.
Additionally, Solana's decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has experienced significant growth, increasing by over 500% in total value locked this year, now amounting to $8.8 billion, according to DefiLlama.
A surge in Solana ETF regulatory filings occurs as Gensler announces his departure date
On November 21, Cboe BZX Exchange submitted four 19b-4 filings for asset managers to list spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the same day the United States Securities and Exchange Commission chief confirmed he would resign in January.
If approved, the Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital-issued spot Solana SOL$257.62 ETFs will be listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s BZX Exchange.
The 19b-4s notify the SEC of a proposed rule change by a self-regulatory organization such as a financial regulatory body or stock exchange.
They differ from S-1 registration statements, which VanEck and 21Shares already submitted for their Solana ETFs in late June and Canary Capital filed four months later, on October 30.
Meanwhile, Bitwise registered a statutory trust in Delaware for a spot Solana ETF on November 20, indicating its intention to seek regulatory approval.
Basketball icon Shaquille O'Neal agrees to an $11 million Astrals NFT settlement
Former NBA star and sports commentator Shaquille O’Neal has agreed to a class action settlement fund for investors in Astrals non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The NBA legend also settled claims in a separate lawsuit involving FTX and is now waiting for court approval. On May 23, O’Neal was served with the Astral NFT lawsuit during an NBA game at Miami’s Kaseya Center, previously known as the FTX Arena.
The class-action lawsuit was related to his promotion of the Astrals NFT project. On August 16, a federal judge in Miami acknowledged that the plaintiffs had adequately alleged that the former NBA player was a seller of the NFTs.
After a year of legal proceedings, O’Neal signed an $11 million settlement for promoting Astrals NFTs in exchange for the dismissal of the class-action suit.
