Solana ETF's first-day trading volume reached 56 million USD: Institutional demand is surging, why did the SOL price fall?

Bitwise's Solana ETF achieved an astonishing volume of $56 million on its debut day in the U.S. market, outperforming over 850 ETFs launched in 2025, including altcoin products like XRP. Despite this strong debut indicating significant institutional demand for Solana assets, the actual token price of Solana (SOL) unexpectedly fell on the day the ETF was successfully launched. Analysts believe that the disconnection between ETF performance and coin price is primarily due to bearish market sentiment, high leverage, and pressure from long positions leading to a “long squeeze.” This mixed signal has raised market skepticism about the key assumption of whether altcoin ETFs can replicate the success of the Bitcoin ETF.

Solana ETF Makes a Grand Debut: First Day Trading Volume Surpasses Most Concurrent Products

The prospects of the Solana spot ETF have sparked months of anticipation in the market. Despite experiencing months of “false starts” and regulatory confusion, the first batch of Solana ETFs successfully debuted in the U.S. market today, achieving an extremely successful first-day performance.

Institutional investors have been pouring large amounts of money into cryptocurrency ETFs, and the new Solana product is no exception. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas stated that Bitwise's Solana ETF had a first-day trading volume of $56 million, making it the strongest performing product among all newly launched ETFs in 2025, even surpassing the XRP ETF and more than 850 other non-token new assets. In comparison, the first-day trading volumes for HBAR ETF and Litecoin ETF were $8 million and $1 million, respectively, with Solana's product completely crushing them.

Coin price and ETF performance divergence: The predicament of SOL price falling instead of rising

Despite the phenomenal success of the Bitwise Solana ETF, the expected rise of the Solana Token (SOL) has not materialized. Even more concerning is that the actual price of SOL not only did not respond to this significant positive news but instead experienced a notable fall.

The divergence of this ETF's performance from the actual price has sparked widespread attention in the market. Analysts believe that the reason for the price slump may be due to a “long positions squeeze” occurring between long-term holders and leveraged trading. Under the pressure of high-leverage long positions being liquidated, even with institutional funds flowing in, it may not be enough to offset the selling pressure. This phenomenon suggests that the success of the ETF does not seem to have an immediate impact on the price dynamics of the SOL token itself. This sharply contrasts with the “smooth sailing” that followed the early launch of the Bitcoin ETF, which was even considered to have permanently changed Bitcoin's price cycle.

If the altcoin ETF cannot generate a similar driving effect on the price of the underlying altcoins, it will challenge the market's traditional assumption that “institutional funds entering the market will directly boost coin prices.” Therefore, the strong debut of the Solana ETF feels more like a “mixed blessing”: institutional demand is strong, but retail SOL holders have not yet been able to benefit from this positive news in the short term.

Conclusion

The astonishing first-day trading volume of the Solana ETF undoubtedly demonstrates the significant interest and asset allocation demand from institutional investors towards this high-performance blockchain ecosystem. However, the phenomenon of SOL's price falling instead of rising serves as a reminder that the inflow of institutional funds and the price trends in the retail market do not always synchronize. This divergence may reflect short-term market sentiment, existing high leverage positions, and the complex trading dynamics within crypto assets. For investors, while the ETF will be beneficial for Solana in the long run, there remains a need to be vigilant about potential liquidity liquidation risks and sudden shifts in market sentiment in the short term.

Disclaimer: This article is for news information only and does not constitute any investment advice. The crypto market is highly volatile, and investors should make decisions with caution.