‘Wen Solana ETF?’ – Franklin Templeton hopes after praising the block chain

Trillion-dollar asset management firm Franklin Templeton's recent thanks to Solana Networks via X (Twitter) has sparked new hope for the future of Solana's exchange-traded fund (ETF).

In a social media post on January 16, the asset manager's official X account – temporarily held by the company's digital asset group – was “impressed” by the many developments made in the Solana ecosystem under the leadership of Anatoly Yakovenko.

“We see Anatolian's vision of a single atomic state machine as a powerful use of decentralized blockchains,” Franklin said on January 17.

On Solana, we see Anatolian's vision of a single atomic state machine as a powerful use of decentralized blockchain data. And we're impressed with all the activity on Solana in Q4 2023-DePIN-DeFi-Meme Coins-NFT Innovation-Firedance

— Franklin Templeton (@FTI_US) January 17, 2024

The company listed the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi), infrastructure, invulnerable token creations and even memecoins as some of Solana's most notable developments in the past quarter.

The company even went so far as to jokingly refer to Solana's “dogwhiphat” with a new memecoin, changing the current laser-eyed profile picture on the X to one of Benjamin Franklin sporting a knitted hat.

The asset manager mentions the Ethereum network, Bitcoin Ordinals, BTC-based Layer-2s and “other L1s”, but most of Franklin Templeton's digital assets group's credits are seen on Solana.

The Solana-biased praise has led many users on Crypto X to expect Franklin Templeton to issue a Solana ETF in the future.

“Okay guys. Solana ETF is next,” wrote anonymous X user nxxn.

Meanwhile, a post by Bitcoin activist “Lex” hinted that a Solana-based ETF might only be a matter of time.

SEC Will Never Approve BTC ETF→ You Are Here ←SEC Will Never Approve ETH ETFSEC SOL ETF Will Never Approve

— lex (@mskvsk) January 12, 2024

In the year Since Spot launched its Bitcoin ETFs on January 11, many in the industry have been hoping that other crypto assets, including Ether (ETH) and XRP, could be featured in the US Spot crypto ETF.

A number of spot ether ETFs are now awaiting SEC approval, with most receiving a final decision by the US securities regulator around May, analysts said.

Related: Blockchain Adoption in Big Finance ‘Accelerating Very Fast' – Franklin Templeton X

While Franklin Templeton himself did not own an Ether ETF position, he shared positive sentiment for the Ethereum ecosystem.

“We are very excited about ETH and its ecosystem. Despite its recent mid-life crisis, we see a bright future with plenty of strong tailwinds to push the Ethereum ecosystem forward,” Franklin said in a follow-up post on X.

We are excited about ETH and its ecosystem. Despite the recent mid-life crisis, we see a bright future with plenty of strong tailwinds to push the Ethereum ecosystem forward: EIP 4844-Alt DA-Community Revitalization-Restaking

— Franklin Templeton (@FTI_US) January 17, 2024

Protodunk sharding — a technique that allows scrolls to add cheap data into blocks — at EIP-4844 and recycling — the recycling of Ether to earn payments and rewards — are two of the four developments Franklin says he's “excited” about Ethereum.

Franklin said he will continue to pursue other layer 1 blockchains. The firm did not specify which networks but said some have “significant potential”.

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