Bitwise Solana ETF Stakes 7% Yield Over BlackRock's ETH Product
Bitwise's Solana Staking ETF is delivering over 7% annually to investors, exposing a structural disadvantage for BlackRock's dominant Ethereum ETF as U.S. regulators delay a ruling on ether staking.
Bitwise has launched the first U.S. exchange-traded product that pays a live staking yield on a spot cryptocurrency, with its Solana fund (BSOL) distributing over 7% annually to shareholders.
The yield highlights a growing structural divide in the crypto ETF market. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) remains the dominant vehicle for institutional ether exposure, attracting $11.316 billion in cumulative net inflows since its launch. Yet, the fund cannot stake its underlying assets. By holding ether in a traditional brokerage wrapper, investors forfeit the 3% to 4% baseline yield that native Ethereum staking currently generates.
ETHA tracks ether's spot price through a Delaware Statutory Trust, offering deep liquidity and a 0.25% expense ratio. However, as DeVas Research noted in April, the fund "provides regulatory compliance but does not allow direct blockchain transactions or staking." Nasdaq filed a petition with the SEC in July 2025 to permit staking within the trust, but the regulator postponed its decision in October 2025. Until regulators act, BlackRock's product is structurally barred from capturing this yield.
The absence of income is compounding losses during a broader crypto drawdown. Both Solana and Ethereum are down roughly 38% year to date. ETHA itself has fallen 40.39% year-to-date through July 13, 2026, closing at $13.37. Without staking distributions, there is no yield component to soften that capital decline.
Bitwise bypassed this regulatory bottleneck by building BSOL to stake nearly 100% of its Solana holdings. The firm relies on Coinbase Custody to secure the trust's SOL accounts and utilizes Helius as its staking partner. The architecture is already drawing institutional money. Dartmouth’s endowment recently disclosed a $14 million position in BSOL. For investors holding the fund inside an IRA, those staking distributions are shielded from current-year taxes, creating an efficient vehicle for long-term crypto allocation.
The divergence between the two funds signals a shifting baseline for crypto ETPs. As the market matures, institutional investors are likely to demand that spot wrappers replicate the full economics of the underlying networks, rather than just the price exposure.
