Solana SOL/USD defied the standstill in other large-cap cryptocurrencies on Wednesday following the impressive launch of its exchange-traded fund in Canada.
What happened: The sixth-largest digital asset by market capitalization spiked nearly 3% in the last 24 hours, outgaining higher-valued coins such as Bitcoin BTC/USD, Ethereum ETH/USD, and XRP XRP/USD.
Solana’s trading volume soared 32.76% to $4.37 billion, making it the fifth-most transacted cryptocurrency in the last 24 hours.
Speculative interest in the coin has also increased, with more than half of Binance traders with an open contract betting on SOL’s price increase, according to Coinglass.
Why It Matters: The positive sentiment followed the debut of the 3iQ Solana Staking ETF on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the shares of which closed 3.40% higher at $10.34 on Wednesday.
Backed by Anthony Scaramucci-managed Skybridge Capital, among other notable investors, the ETF exposes investors to the price moves of SOL while also generating passive rewards through staking.
Notably, Ark Invest, the investment firm led by well-known investorCathie Wood, purchased 500,000 shares of the ETF.
It’s worth remembering that Ark is a known investor in cryptocurrencies, with its focus on the “Big Three,” namely, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
As of this writing, Grayscale operates its Grayscale Bitcoin TrustGBTC and Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETFETHE on Wall Street. Visit Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings to check out their latest momentum and growth-related metrics.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Solana traded at $129.81, up 2.89% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Year-to-date, the cryptocurrency was down 30%.
On Wednesday, Cathie Wood-led Ark Invest made significant trades, notably acquiring shares in Robinhood Markets Inc.HOOD, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF ARKB, and 3iQ Solana Staking ETF.
The Robinhood Trade
Ark Invest’s flagship fund, ARK Innovation ETFARKK, purchased 60,266 shares of Robinhood Markets Inc. on Wednesday. The trade, valued at approximately $2.45 million, was made as Robinhood’s stock faced a sharp decline. The stock closed at $40.66, down 7.76% on Wednesday following Powell’s remarks about inflation and trade tariffs, which spooked the market. Robinhood, heavily reliant on retail trading, is particularly sensitive to such market volatility. Robinhood’s userbase, largely consisting of retail investors, may reduce trading activity in uncertain environments, adding pressure on the company’s performance.
The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF Trade
In another notable move, ARK Next Generation Internet ETFARKW fund sold 31,817 shares of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF. The ETF closed at $84.15, marking a slight increase of 0.38%. This trade, worth $2.7 million, comes as Bitcoin ETFs are showing signs of recovery after a challenging period. According to recent reports, Bitcoin ETFs recorded $76.4 million in net inflows, signaling a rebound after significant outflows. Over 24 hours, BitcoinBTC/USD traded nearly 1% higher at $84,350.98.
The 3iQ Solana Staking ETF Trade
Ark Invest also made a significant purchase of 500,000 shares of the 3iQ Solana Staking ETF across its Ark Fintech Innovation ETFARKF and ARKW funds. SOLQ.U closed at $10.34 on Wednesday, making the Ark transaction worth $5.2 million. The ETF began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with its largest unitholders including Anthony Scaramucci founded and managed SkyBridge Capital. It invests in long-term holdings of SolanaSOL/USD, which are bought from over-the-counter counterparties and aims to give investors “attractive staking rewards, according to a statement released by 3iQ, which calls itself the world’s first Digital Assets Managed Account Platform. Over a 24-hour period, Solana shot up over 5% to $132.08.
Other Key Trades:
Sold 234,788 shares of UiPath Inc from the ARKF fund.
Sold 9,610 shares of Repare Therapeutics Inc from the ARKG fund.
Sold 88 shares of Prime Medicine Inc from the ARKK fund.
Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings show Robinhood Momentum in the 98th percentile and Growth in the 92nd percentile. Want to know how Interactive Brokers stacks up? Click here and find out.
Bird Secures Over $650 Million in New Awards; Reinforces Defence, Clean Energy and Healthcare Portfolios – Toronto Stock Exchange News Today – EIN Presswire
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Four asset managers — 3iQ Corp., Evolve Funds Group Inc., CI Global Asset Management (CI GAM) and Purpose Investments — have each listed products on the Toronto Stock Exchange. This comes after the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) gave the regulatory green light on Monday for the funds that provide exposure to Solana tokens (SOL), the world’s sixth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Two ETFs tracking Solana futures launched in the U.S. in March, but those funds provide indirect exposure to the digital asset by tracking the price of Solana futures contracts. The Canadian funds are the first of their kind in North America to provide direct spot exposure to the price movements of SOL, beating asset managers in the U.S. to the punch as they await regulatory approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch such products.
Canada was also ahead of the U.S. in launching spot bitcoin and spot ether ETFs in 2021.
“We are very proud and excited that Canada is [a leader] again in crypto,” said Vlad Tasevski, chief innovation officer with Purpose, in an interview.
What is Solana?
Launched in 2020, Solana is a public blockchain platform designed for decentralized applications and crypto transactions. SOL is the native cryptocurrency of the network, used in transactions and staking.
Solana also hosts several meme coins, such as the Trump meme coin, $TRUMP.
“It has multiple verticals, like [non-fungible tokens], gaming, storage, it facilitates transactions,” said Geraldo Ferreira, senior vice-president and head of investment products and manager oversight with CI GAM.
Solana is known for delivering faster and cheaper transactions than rival blockchains like Ethereum. However, Solana has experienced network outages and a major hack in the past, which critics see as a trade-off for its speed, with some calling the security of the platform into question.
Moreover, like other cryptocurrencies, SOL is volatile. Its price can fluctuate significantly due to various factors such as regulatory changes, technological advancements and overall market sentiment.
How do the four new Solana ETFs differ?
The new funds from 3iQ, Evolve, CI GAM and Purpose are similar, although they vary in staking approaches, management fees and other ways.
“Our fund and our competitors’ funds, we’re all holding physical SOL, so there’s no difference in the underlying asset,” said Elliot Johnson, chief investment officer and chief operating officer with Evolve.
“It really has more to do with the packaging.”
In addition to providing spot Solana exposure, all four funds intend to stake a portion of their SOL holdings in order to earn rewards of additional SOL tokens.
Staking is part of a process that validates transactions and helps to secure blockchain networks like Solana and Ethereum, said Josh Deems, head of sales, Americas with Toronto-based institutional staking provider Figment, which 3iQ selected as the primary staking provider for its fund, the Solana Staking ETF (TSX: SOLQ).
“Let’s say you have one Solana [token] per share at the launch. The idea is you’re going to have more Solana per share over time, because there are going to be rewards that accrue to the fund. So, there’s going to be a larger pool of Solana based on the same amount of units,” Deems explained.
“Secondary to that is the security to the network. You’re actively making sure that that network is running effectively by using an ETF that’s staking the asset. The knock-on effect is the financial reward, but also, … you’re directly contributing to the operability of that particular network.”
There are different approaches to staking, though. For one, Evolve has noted that it intends to initially target staking of up to 50% of the Solana tokens held in the portfolio of its fund, the Evolve Solana ETF (TSX: SOLA, SOLA.U). Meanwhile, CI GAM has said that as the manager of the CI Galaxy Solana ETF (TSX: SOLX), it’s entitled to up to 35% of the net rewards from staking, while no less than 65% will accrue to the ETF.
Staking has potential downsides and risks, including liquidity lockups.
Management fees are another differentiator.
3iQ’s SOLQ will have a 0% management fee for the first 12 months (possibly longer), with the fee becoming 0.15% thereafter, said Greg Benhaim, executive vice-president of products and head of training with 3iQ.
CI GAM has waived the fee of SOLX until July 16, so the fund will have a 0% management fee until that day, when it will be 0.35%.
Evolve has waived the management fee of SOLA (the Canadian-dollar unhedged version of the fund) and SOLA.U (the U.S.-dollar version of the fund) for the remainder of 2025. As of Jan. 1, 2026, a 1.00% management fee will apply to the fund.
The Purpose Solana ETF (TSX: SOLL) has a 0.39% management fee.
There are some other notable differences.
That includes different approaches to staking infrastructure. For example, 3iQ has chosen Figment as its primary staking provider, which Benhaim said allows for “a clear delineation between investment manager and staking providers” and avoids conflicts of interest in the staking validation process. On the other hand, Purpose is relying on its proprietary in-house validator infrastructure, which Tasevski said allows the firm “to provide staking at a much lower cost than others.”
For its part, Purpose offers its fund in Canadian-dollar-hedged (TSX: SOLL), Canadian-dollar-non-hedged (TSX: SOLL.B), and U.S.-dollar, non-hedged (TSX: SOLL.U) units, giving investors the option to invest in “Canadian-dollar units with the currency hedge, so they can use their Canadian investment account without having to worry about currency fluctuations, because Solana is a U.S.-dollar denominated asset,” Tasevski said.
Meanwhile, the Evolve fund’s portfolio will be priced based on the CME CF Solana-Dollar Reference Rate, which will also be used to calculate its net asset value. This is a daily benchmark index price for Solana, denominated in U.S. dollars.
What’s the outlook for Solana ETFs?
Johnson is bullish on Solana, and Solana ETFs by extension, given that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has signalled it will deliver crypto reforms in the U.S., which could lead to greater acceptance of crypto elsewhere.
“It sets the tone for other governments around the world to develop more robust crypto friendly regulations and policies. It also provides clarity to the industry, so the entrepreneurs within crypto who are looking to build new products and services now have clarity of what they’re allowed to do,” he said.
“And we think Solana stands to benefit substantially from those changes.”
Tasevski said he sees long-term opportunity in investing in Solana as part of a broader diversified portfolio.
“Short term, it’s going to be volatile, but long term, we are very happy, because we see a lot of uses and benefits of the high-speed throughput infrastructure of the Solana network.”
Fereira noted that there’s interest in spot Solana ETFs from investors beyond the borders of Canada.
“We’ve had inquiries from firms in Taiwan, like on the other side of the world, inquiring about our launch of this Solana ETF, so there’s definitely global interest in this, not just Canadian interest,” he said.
“So, I think it could be very similar to the success of Ethereum.”
In the event that the SEC approves the launch of spot Solana ETFs in the U.S., Fereira said he expects to see flows move from Canadian spot Solana ETFs into U.S. counterparts, as was the case with spot bitcoin ETFs. At the same time, he expects there still to be interest in these products from Canadian investors.
“I think there probably will be some of that activity happening, where investors will be moving to a U.S. offering, but there’s still a significant amount of assets that are in in Canada, trading on Canadian exchanges. We [at CI GAM alone] have close to $2 billion in digital assets,” he said.
Benhaim echoed that comment.
“At least for the time being, Canada will be competitive and outperform even the native Solana ETFs that will eventually come and launch in the U.S.”
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Noushin Ziafati
Noushin has been the associate editor of Advisor.ca since 2024. Previously, she worked at outlets including the CBC, Canadian Press, CTV News, Telegraph-Journal and Chronicle Herald. Reach her at noushin@newcom.ca.
At the start of March, the markets began to grapple with the levels of uncertainty that have been triggered by the Trump administration. Stocks took a deep dive as investors reacted to the tariff talks going into effect, extending a lengthy stretch of volatility across global markets. The bitcoin industry was also hit by the overall market volatility as it fell to US$75,000 at one point in the month. The gold trade was the major winner with sentiment being extremely bullish as it drove gold prices above US$3,000 an ounce.
According to Morningstar’s Best-Performing ETFs report, gold ETFs occupied half of its top 10 list. Blackrock’s iShares S&P/TSX Global Gold Index ETF (XGD-T) was the best performing Canadian ETFs for the first quarter of this year with a total return of 36.26%. This passively managed fund replicates the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index. The Global X Gold Producer Equity Covered Call ETF (GLCC-T) took the second spot with a 3-month return of 35.28%. While focusing on equity securities of North American gold producers, the fund also employs a dynamic covered call strategy to hedge against downside risk and generate additional income. BMO Global Asset Management edged out Harvest ETFs for third place with BMO Equal Weight Global Gold Index ETF (ZGD-T) earning a return of 34.31%.
Additions
Twenty-three new ETFs were launched in the Canadian market for the month of March.
BMO Asset Management
BMO Asset Management launched three new BMO Target Maturity Bond ETFs. Unlike traditional bonds, these ETFs are designed to provide income for a fixed period during the year of maturity and minimize reinvestment risk, which is the risk that proceeds from maturing bonds being invested in instruments that have an unknown future interest rate. The BMO Target 2027-2029 Canadian Corporate Bond ETFs (ZXCO-T, ZXCP-T, ZXCQ-T) will invest primarily in investment-grade debt instruments of Canadian issuers that have an effective maturity in each respective year. The ETFs also employ the use of derivatives to implement a hedging strategy designed to minimize reinvestment risk in the following year as a result of staggered bond maturity dates.
Harvest ETFs
Harvest ETFs expanded its Enhanced High Income Shares lineup with seven new ETFs, offering investors exposure to leading U.S. companies. The newly listed ETFs include single-stock strategies for Alphabet (GOGY-T), Advanced Micro Devices (AMDY-T), Broadcom (AVGY-T), Coinbase (CNYE-T), Costco (COSY-T), MicroStrategy (MSTE-T), and Netflix (NFLY-T).
These ETFs employ an active and flexible covered call strategy on up to 50% of the portfolio to provide high monthly cash distributions to its unitholders. The fund also applies modest leverage at around 25% for higher income and growth potential. Investors gain access to widely held U.S. stocks at a lower entry point compared to direct ownership, all in Canadian dollars.
Evolve ETFs
Evolve Funds Group Inc. added to its suite of innovative ETFs with the launch of eight new funds, introducing Canada’s first levered bitcoin and ether ETFs, alongside two enhanced yield strategies. The Evolve Levered Bitcoin ETF (LBIT-T, LBIT.U-T) and Evolve Levered Ether ETF (LETH-T, LETH.U-T), along with their USD-denominated versions, offer investors 1.25x exposure to the daily price movements of bitcoin and ether, respectively. Investors will have access to bitcoin and ether directly in portfolios through brokerage accounts as opposed to crypto trading platforms.
In addition, Evolve introduced the Evolve Enhanced Yield Mid Term Bond Fund (MIDB-T, MIDB.B-T, MIDB.U-T) which targets medium-duration fixed income exposure in North American markets with an added active covered call strategy to increase yield.
Lastly, the Evolve Canadian Energy Enhanced Yield Index Fund (OILY-T) seeks to replicate up to 1.25 times multiple of the performance of the Solactive Canada Energy Top 10 Index. In combining a focused equity strategy with a dynamic covered call approach and leverage, the fund endeavours to enhance yield while mitigating risk and reduce volatility.
StarLight ETFs
Starlight Capital launched two new funds that individually concentrates on exposure to North American and global markets. The Starlight North American Equity Fund (SCNA-NE) provides a balanced approach, investing in both Canadian and U.S. securities, with the flexibility to adjust geographic allocations based on market conditions. The fund applies fundamental analysis to identify companies with strong growth and value potential while managing downside risk.
The Starlight Global Growth Fund (SCGG-NE) delivers international diversification by investing in common shares and debt obligations outside of Canada, with a focus on large-cap growth companies. The fund aims to generate long-term capital appreciation through exposure to leading global issuers across various sectors.
J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan Asset Management broadened its Canadian ETF lineup with two actively managed equity funds on the Toronto Stock Exchange, offering investors targeted exposure to U.S. equity markets through distinct value and growth strategies while following fundamental, bottom-up approaches to identify quality companies. The JPMorgan US Value Active ETF (JAVA-T) focuses on large-cap companies trading at attractive valuations, with an emphasis on sectors such as financials, health care, and industrials. The JPMorgan US Growth Active ETF (JGRO-T) seeks to outperform the Russell 1000 Growth index by targeting underappreciated growth opportunities, primarily in the large-cap space, with flexibility across market caps.
Guardian Capital
Guardian Capital LP launched the Guardian i³ Global Dividend Premium Yield Fund (GIDY-T) to provide investors with regular dividends through investing in global dividend-paying securities, enhanced by a conservative covered call overlay. The Fund was managed by the i³ Investments™ Team, which utilized advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to identify companies with strong total return potential. The covered call strategy is designed to increase income generation while preserving long-term capital growth. Investors benefit from enhanced, tax-efficient monthly distributions and reduced portfolio volatility.
Amy Mak, is ETF Specialist at Inovestor.
At Inovestor, we believe that investors deserve access to the best financial information available. Leveraging our suite of award-winning research technologies, we go above and beyond to put that information at your fingertips. For more information, please visit inovestor.com
April 16 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index climbed on Wednesday, as surging gold prices boosted materials shares, while the Bank of Canada held borrowing costs steady at its interest rate meeting.
Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 0.3% to 24,135.11 points.
at 2.75%, its first pause after seven consecutive cuts, and warned that the U.S. tariffs could cause inflation spike and deep recession in Canada under worst-case scenario.
After the decision, Canadian government bond yields rose across the curve; the loonie was trading 0.38% higher to the greenback.
Materials group was leading the gains, up 2%, as gold mining firms surged after the yellow metal prices
extended their record run
to breach $3,300 per ounce.
“Gold hitting new highs will add support to the Canadian markets and clearly that’s been strong because of the inflation hedge, the geopolitical uncertainty as well as many central banks increasing their gold reserves,” said Ian Chong, Portfolio Manager at First Avenue Investment Counsel.
Energy shares also jumped 1.7% as oil prices rose around 1% after the market drew some strength from the possibility of trade talks between China and the U.S. and a report that Iraq will cut oil production in April.
Information technology shares were down near 1%, tracking losses on tech-heavy Nasdaq after AI darling Nvidia took a hit from U.S. restrictions on chip sales to China.
Trump on Wednesday ordered a probe into potential new tariffs on all U.S. critical minerals imports, on top of reviews into pharmaceutical and chip imports.
Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks will draw attention of investors looking for clarity on the central bank’s strategy to address recent market volatility and growing economic concerns. (Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
Trader Dylan Halvorsan works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Strength in the energy sector helped Canada’s main stock index gain more than 100 points as the price of oil climbed, while U.S. markets fell in late-morning trading.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 118.68 points at 24,186.61.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 82.69 points at 40,286.27. The S&P 500 index was down 53.53 points at 5,343.10, while the Nasdaq composite was down 324.06 points at 16,499.11.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.01 cents US compared with 71.77 cents US on Tuesday.
The June crude oil contract was up US$1.07 at US$61.82 per barrel and the May natural gas contract was down nine cents US at US$3.24 per mmBTU.
The June gold contract was up US$88.80 at US$3,329.20 an ounce and the May copper contract was up three cents US at US$4.65 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2025.
Tim Nash, founder of Good Investing in Toronto, is encouraging clients to examine their portfolios through a national lens.
“The greatest antidote to despair is action and doing something about it,” said Nash. “Divestment is one side of the equation. The other side is, ‘How do I redirect that?’ That’s where it can get very exciting in terms of this notion of impact investing.”
However, advisors like Kelly Gares of Blueshore Financial in West Vancouver are warning against decisions driven by emotion.
“Often, it’s a bit of an emotional response, this wanting to push back against this perceived negative push against Canada,” he said.
While some clients express political concerns through financial choices, Gares points out the risks of home bias, particularly Canada’s stock market concentration in financials, energy, and materials.
