Nasdaq has submitted a proposed rule change to list the VanEck JitoSOL ETF, a fund designed to hold JitoSOL — the liquid staking token built on Solana.
Liquid staking permits token holders to stake assets to help secure a proof-of-stake network while receiving a transferable token that represents the staked assets plus accrued rewards. According to Jito Foundation president Brian Smith, if the ETF is approved the fund would not pay out staking rewards separately; instead those rewards would be reflected in the fund’s net asset value. Because JitoSOL compounds rewards on-chain, each token the trust holds would represent the deposited SOL plus any staking yield earned on Solana.
The Nasdaq filing invokes Rule 5711(d), which covers commodity-based trust shares, and seeks approval to list and trade shares of a trust that directly holds JitoSOL. JitoSOL (JTOSOL), created by Jito Network, is backed by SOL deposited into a Solana staking pool and gives holders staking exposure without running validators or managing on-chain staking operations.
In the filing Nasdaq points to the SEC’s prior approvals of spot Bitcoin and spot Ether ETPs, arguing the proposal satisfies fraud, manipulation and surveillance requirements and can be approved by “other means” even though there is no regulated futures market for JitoSOL. The trust would price its shares using the MarketVector JitoSol VWAP Close Index, which is built from pricing contributions from multiple trading venues, and would permit both cash and in-kind creations and redemptions.
The proposal also argues JitoSOL is economically comparable to SOL, citing correlation data, and claims that a properly structured liquid staking token can be treated analogously to the underlying asset for the purposes of the generic listing standards the SEC approved in September. Under the SEC’s review timeline the agency has 45 days from Federal Register publication to approve or disapprove the proposal, a period that can be extended to 90 days.
Staking exposure exists, but no U.S. ETF currently holds a liquid staking token directly. There are, however, U.S. funds offering regulated staking economics: REX-Osprey’s Solana + Staking ETF (SSK) launched in July and combines spot Solana exposure with on-chain staking rewards distributed to shareholders, and REX-Osprey’s ETH + Staking ETF (ESK) followed with spot Ether plus monthly staking-related distributions. Grayscale has also added staking features across several of its exchange-traded products and is pursuing regulatory steps to uplist related trusts.
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued staff commentary in May indicating certain protocol staking activities generally do not constitute the offer or sale of securities under federal law; similar staff guidance on liquid staking and staking receipt tokens followed in August. These statements reflect staff views rather than formal rulemaking and do not automatically authorize individual products.
In Europe, 21Shares launched a Jito-staked Solana exchange-traded product in January, offering listed exposure to SOL with staking integrated. Jito’s total value locked (TVL) is around $1.1 billion, down from a peak above $3 billion in 2025, according to DeFiLlama.
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