FTX and CoinShares launch physical staked Solana ETP

CoinShares, one of the largest crypto investment firms in Europe, and FTX crypto exchange have united forces to launch a new physically-backed Solana (SOL) exchange-traded product (ETP).

The new product, titled CoinShares FTX Physical Staked Solana, is launching with 1 million SOL in seed capital, allowing investors to get 3% in staking rewards, CoinShares officially announced on Wednesday. The new cryptocurrency ETP is the first initiative between FTX and CoinShares.

[1/5] We are excited to announce that we’ve partnered with @FTX_Official and our first initiative is to launch a physically staked Solana ETP with SOL1mn seed capital, Staking Rewards of 3.0% p.a, and a reduced management fee of 0.0% p.a. pic.twitter.com/dCq5H2CH1c

— CoinShares ‍ (@CoinSharesCo) March 23, 2022

The product will be listed on Germany’s major digital market Xetra and is the fourth ETP rolled out by CoinShares in 2022. The firm previously launched the CoinShares Physical Staked Cardano ETP in early March after starting trading the CoinShares Physical Staked Tezos ETP and the CoinShares Physical Staked Polkadot ETP in January. 

Similarly to previously launched staked ETPs, the new CoinShares FTX Physical Staked Solana has a unique staking mechanism that allows issuers to share staking rewards with investors by reducing the management fee and increasing the coin entitlement of the ETP each day.

“Staked coins do not move from the secure custodian where they are stored, and the ETPs remain 100% physically-backed at all times,” CoinShares noted in the announcement.

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried noted that the latest ETP launch follows the launch of FTC Access, a new tool combining the expertise behind FTX and FTX US to provide global institutional clients with access to digital asset products, adding:

“The goal of FTX Access is to bring institutional-grade services and products to market in a cost-effective manner. CoinShares has a proven track record of providing European investors with innovative and regulated crypto-asset investment vehicles for close to a decade.

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The news comes shortly after FTX officially announced the expansion in Europe in early March after receiving approval from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. One of the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency companies, FTX in mid-March also won a license in Dubai to open local headquarters and offer crypto derivatives products.