Solana ETFs Approved in Canada, Prices Dip 0.885%

Solana's latest price was $133.60, down 0.885% in the last 24 hours. In Canada, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) approved North America’s first spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that incorporate staking. These ETFs will include staking capabilities, allowing investors to earn rewards by locking up their tokens to support blockchain operations. The approved issuers—Purpose Investments, Evolve ETFs, CI Financial, and 3iQ—will list Solana ETFs, with trading set to begin on April 16. The funds will hold physical Solana (SOL) and offer staking, making them a unique blend of passive investment and yield-generating blockchain participation. This decision may encourage additional crypto-based investment products in traditional markets and reinforces Canada’s proactive stance on crypto oversight.

Solana’s decentralized application (dApp) ecosystem continues to outperform its competitors, generating more revenue than all other chains combined in the last 12 months. According to a report by Syndica, Solana dApps earned $2.8 billion in revenue, which is 47% more than the dApp revenue on all other chains combined. This success is attributed to Solana’s low fees, user-friendly infrastructure, and focus on developer accessibility. However, the revenue is largely driven by crypto trading applications, making earnings highly volatile. For instance, revenue peaked in January at $701 million, coinciding with Solana’s all-time high. Since then, dApp revenue has declined significantly, dropping to $146 million in March, highlighting the correlation between dApp earnings and high trading volumes.

Exchanges, wallets, and other trading-focused platforms dominate Solana’s top-earning dApps. In March, the memecoin launchpad Pump.fun was the biggest contributor, bringing in $31 million and surpassing platforms like Jupiter and Phantom. Pump.fun is now facing rising competition from Axiom, a memecoin launchpad backed by Y Combinator, which has quickly gained traction, capturing 29% of the memecoin dApp market and generating $19 million in revenue. Meanwhile, Jupiter remains the dominant force among Solana DEXs, earning 93% of total DEX revenue on the network and maintaining strong performance in March, bringing in $22 million despite the cooling market.

Solana developers are increasingly interested in onchain privacy, with a growing focus on privacy-preserving applications and new takes on decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Colosseum co-founder Matty Taylor highlighted the return to crypto cypherpunk roots, citing privacy-preserving applications and innovative DAO structures as areas of interest. The RPC provider Helius recently unveiled confidential balances, a more private version of Solana’s existing token extensions, while the testnet-phase encryption infrastructure network Arcium has also gained attention. This shift toward privacy is driven by both the cypherpunk ethos and the practical needs of institutions seeking to keep their financial activities opaque. Additionally, Colosseum has supported markets-based governance platforms like MetaDAO and is exploring futarchy-enabled token launchpads, which could offer more dynamic and responsive governance structures.

Solana’s ecosystem continues to evolve, with a growing emphasis on privacy, decentralized governance, and innovative dApp development. The network’s success in generating revenue through dApps underscores its appeal to both users and developers, while regulatory developments in various jurisdictions highlight the increasing scrutiny and oversight of the crypto industry. As the landscape continues to change, Solana’s ability to adapt and innovate will be crucial in maintaining its competitive edge and attracting new participants to its ecosystem.