Bitwise CIO: ‘Solana season’ set up by ETFs and treasury buys

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan says the same mix that powered BTC and ETH – spot ETP inflows plus corporate treasury demand – is now forming around Solana, with SEC decisions on spot SOL ETFs due by Oct. 10 and a $1.65B treasury vehicle gearing up to buy and stake.

According to him, the ingredients for a strong Solana run are falling into place: spot exchange‑traded products lining up for approval and corporate treasury buyers committing capital. In a memo to clients, Hougan frames it simply: the same demand drivers that lifted Bitcoin and Ethereum over the past 18 months are now pointing at Solana.

His “recipe” leans on flows. Since Jan. 11, 2024, the Bitcoin network produced 322,681 BTC while ETPs and corporations acquired over 1.1 million BTC. Since Apr. 15, 2025, Ethereum produced 388,568 ETH, while 7.4 million ETH were bought by ETPs and companies.

It’s classic supply and demand,

Hougan writes; when demand exceeds supply, prices tend to rise.

He argues Solana is next in line. Multiple issuers, including Bitwise, Grayscale, VanEck, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Invesco/Galaxy and Canary Capital, have filed for spot SOL ETFs in the U.S., with the SEC due to rule by Oct. 10. That timetable could set up several launches in Q4. On the treasury side, Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto and Multicoin Capital have pledged $1.65 billion to Forward Industries, a new publicly traded Solana treasury company that will buy SOL, stake it and target excess returns. Kyle Samani of Multicoin will serve as chairman and public advocate.

Not all SOL exposure is built the same. In July, REX‑Osprey launched SSK, the first U.S. ETF with SOL exposure and native staking under the ’40 Act, a workaround compared with the ’33 Act used by spot BTC/ETH ETFs. SSK still holds actual SOL (at least half directly staked) but has drawn about $195 million since launch, far behind Bitcoin and Ethereum spot funds. Hougan’s view is that traditional spot SOL ETFs could unlock larger flows if approved.

Beyond products, Hougan pitches Solana’s fundamentals: sub‑cent transaction fees, rapid finality with an approved upgrade targeting ~150 ms (once live), and a no‑L2 architecture that keeps UX simple. He also acknowledges common criticisms such as greater centralization and a higher inflation rate (≈ 4.3% vs 0.8% for BTC and ~0.5% for ETH). Even so, by his tally, Solana may become third in stablecoin liquidity among programmable chains, fourth in tokenized assets, and gain +140% YTD growth in tokenized AUM.

There’s also scale. With Bitcoin near $2.2T in market cap and Ethereum around $523B, Solana at roughly $119B is ~5% of BTC and ~23% of ETH. As Hougan puts it, “Scaled for the size of the blockchain, a relatively small amount of flows into Solana could significantly impact prices.” He notes the $1.65B Forward plan would be akin to $33B flowing into Bitcoin on a size‑adjusted basis, even after accounting for inflation differences.

ETFs and treasury firms don’t create demand on their own; they need a reason for buyers to show up. Hougan points out that Ethereum ETFs only saw sustained inflows months after approval, when stablecoin adoption accelerated and the market focused on Ethereum’s role as the top stablecoin chain. For Solana, the pitch is speed, cost, and simplicity for stablecoins, tokenized assets and DeFi.

The near‑term hinge is the SEC rulings by Oct. 10 and how quickly Q4 products and Forward deploy capital. If those flows materialize, Hougan argues, the setup is attractive.

Keep your eye on Solana in the coming months.

His closing line