Bitwise Solana ETF Wins Bank Approval for Collateralized Borrowing

Bitwise co-founder and CEO Hunter Horsley confirmed the development in an Aug. 11 social media post, signaling that the bank will permit clients to secure loans against their BSOL holdings. Under the new policy, an investor pledging $100,000 in shares can access up to $25,000 in liquidity without triggering a taxable sale of the underlying asset. While the specific lender remains anonymous, the arrangement allows the bank to treat the exchange-traded shares as standard securities, valuing them against market prices rather than managing private keys directly.

The approval arrives as the fund continues to scale, holding approximately 8.18 million SOL valued at $622 million as of Aug. 9. While the lending facility offers investors a way to maintain market exposure while accessing capital, critical details such as interest rates, repayment timelines, and eligibility criteria remain undisclosed. Bitwise has not clarified if the facility is restricted to private banking clients or extended to retail brokerage accounts, nor has it confirmed if the policy applies to other funds in its lineup.

Since its October 2025 launch on NYSE Arca, BSOL has functioned by combining direct SOL exposure with a staking strategy, currently yielding a 5.84% net reward rate. Despite a challenging first half of 2026 that saw the fund's net asset value decline by nearly 39% alongside broader market volatility, the product has maintained its dominance, controlling roughly 81% of the assets held by U.S. spot Solana funds as of mid-May. This lending integration suggests that institutional appetite for crypto-backed financial products is broadening, moving beyond simple buy-and-hold strategies toward sophisticated collateral management.