Blockchain research: Bitwise Solana ETF adds tokenized share form

The news

On August 13, 2026, the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF filed Post-Effective Amendment No. 2 to its Form S-1 registration statement (No. 333-283391). For blockchain research, the filing is notable for a feature that goes beyond the asset the fund holds: it describes shares that can be held either in traditional book-entry form through the Depository Trust Company or in tokenized form on a blockchain.

The fund trades on NYSE Arca under the ticker BSOL. Bitwise Investment Advisers, LLC is the sponsor. The filing states a management fee of 0.20% a year of the trust’s Solana holdings and staking expenses equal to 6% of the additional SOL generated through staking. The trust was staking 100% of its Solana holdings, with generating additional SOL through staking described as a secondary investment objective. Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC is the Solana custodian, and assets are held in cold storage.

The amendment updates the registration statement to incorporate the trust’s Form 10-K filed March 20, 2026, and its quarterly reports filed May 6 and August 7, 2026. It also adds disclosure on tokenized share holdings through Superstate Services LLC, which acts as a digital transfer agent.

Our analysis

The tokenized share form is the most interesting element. Spot crypto ETPs were created to give investors exposure to tokens through traditional brokerage rails. A tokenized share form brings the wrapper itself back onto a blockchain. An investor could hold an ETF share that represents staked SOL, recorded as a token rather than solely as a book-entry position at DTC.

That raises a set of practical questions for researchers. How do tokenized holders interact with creations and redemptions, which normally run through authorized participants and DTC? How are corporate-action-style events, such as fee accruals, reflected for tokenized holders? The filing’s reference to a digital transfer agent indicates that the recordkeeping layer is being handled by a specialist, but the excerpt reviewed does not answer every operational question.

The staking terms are also worth noting. Staking all of the trust’s holdings maximizes the staking yield the protocol can generate for the fund. The 6% cut of staking rewards is an expense that applies on top of the 0.20% management fee, so the net yield shareholders see depends on both.

Incorporating the 10-K and two 10-Qs by reference is routine, but it reflects that BSOL is an operating, reporting product rather than a proposal. Researchers can use those periodic reports to track holdings and staking results over time.

Room for disagreement

One perspective is that tokenized ETF shares are a natural next step: if the underlying asset lives on a blockchain, it makes sense for the fund shares to be able to live there too, potentially enabling faster settlement or onchain use of the shares.

Another perspective is that tokenizing the wrapper adds a layer of operational complexity without changing the underlying exposure. Investors who already hold BSOL through a brokerage account get the same staked SOL exposure. For them, the main benefit of a tokenized form is unclear, and any new recordkeeping arrangement brings its own operational and legal risks. Some observers might also question whether staking 100% of holdings leaves enough flexibility for heavy redemptions, although the filing excerpt reviewed does not address that point directly.

What to watch

Points to monitor include how much of BSOL’s share count migrates to the tokenized form, whether other crypto ETP sponsors add similar options, and how future periodic reports describe staking rewards net of the 6% expense. Any additional detail on how tokenized shares interact with the creation and redemption process would also be informative.