It’s been a slow climb, but it looks like the REX-Osprey Solana staking ETF finally hit a major mark. On September 11th, the fund—trading under the ticker SSK—crossed $200 million in cumulative flows. That’s a big number, and it comes at a time when Solana itself is having a pretty strong run.
A Rocky Start
To be honest, SSK didn’t exactly burst out of the gate. For a while there, things were pretty quiet. According to data from Farside Investors, the fund saw zero activity on four out of six trading days back in early August. That kind of pattern wasn’t just about this one product, either. There’s been a general wariness from bigger investors when it comes to Solana, especially compared to Bitcoin or Ethereum offerings.
Some analysts think the slow uptake wasn’t about a lack of interest, though. The structure of this thing is just… complicated. It’s not your standard SEC-registered spot ETF. It mixes in staking mechanics and uses offshore ETF allocations, which is a lot different from what most people are used to. And then there’s the fee. At 0.75% per year, it’s definitely on the higher side. Most of the big crypto ETFs charge between 0.15% and 0.25%.
What Changed?
But something shifted toward the end of August. The mood, I think. A few major players—Galaxy Digital, Multicoin Capital, Jump Crypto—announced they were looking to put together a $1 billion Solana treasury. Cantor Fitzgerald was named as the lead banker. That kind of corporate move tends to get people’s attention.
Not long after, we saw Forward Industries close a massive $1.65 billion private placement. And then SOL Strategies got the green light from Nasdaq to start trading as a Solana-focused vehicle. It all happened pretty fast.
The Money Follows
You could see the reaction in the weekly flow numbers. In the last week of August, Solana exchange-traded products pulled in $177 million. That was the largest altcoin flow for the week, not counting Ethereum. And then in the first week of September, Solana products brought in another $16.1 million while Ethereum ETPs actually saw huge outflows—over $912 million left.
This institutional interest isn’t happening in a vacuum. Solana’s DeFi ecosystem has been growing. Data from DefiLlama shows total value locked on the network crossed $13 billion for the first time on September 12th. That kind of fundamental growth probably helped give investors more confidence.
And yeah, the price moved too. SOL was up around 20% in September, hitting a high of nearly $242 on the 12th. That’s its highest point since late January. It’s not all just hype—there seems to be some real momentum building here. Whether it lasts, well, that’s another question.
