Solana is so hot right now — and Ethereum is paying the price.That’s according to Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan as he celebrated the company’s staked Solana exchange-traded fund, BSOL, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday with $220 million in first-day trading volume. BSOL’s trading figures make it the highest launch of any ETF this year across all asset classes, Hougan told DL News. “There’s a lot of pent-up demand for Solana,” he said, projecting the fund will surpass $3 billion in assets — with the potential to “surprise to the upside.” And it’s not alone. Four spot Solana ETFs have already hit the market while 10 more are waiting on approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.Hougan argues that the enthusiasm around Solana is part of a broader institutional shift. While most institutions will buy both Solana and Ethereum, Hougan says there’s a distinct group of sophisticated buyers gravitating specifically toward Solana. “You have your ‘smarter than your average bear buyer’ who is interested in the challenger asset,” he said. Here are his four reasons why they’ll be betting on Solana. Ship-first attitudeSolana has earned itself a reputation for moving fast and prioritising execution over perfection, Hougan says. While Ethereum spends years debating upgrades, Solana ships products and iterates in real time. That velocity appeals to institutions tired of waiting for Ethereum’s roadmap to materialise, Hougan says. Instead, Solana’s approach mirrors Silicon Valley’s “move fast” ethos.“It’s a ship-first attitude,” said Hougan. He didn’t mention that the full ethos is to “move fast and break stuff.”Leading on tokenisationSolana has become the go-to blockchain for equity tokenisation, with real-world asset projects choosing its infrastructure over competitors, Hougan says. “Solana is leading the race for equity tokenisation,” he said. Why? Speed and costs. Fast transactions and low fees make it practical for financial applications that require thousands of daily transactions. Tokenisation, indeed, has the potential to balloon in the coming years. Asset management behemoths like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are welcoming tokenisation, forecasting the sector could grow to a stunning $19 trillion over the next decade.To be sure, Ethereum has a sizable lead with $12 billion locked in real world assets, while Solana has about $642 million, accordging to DefiLlama But when comparing both chains for growth in 2025, Ethereum has increased by about 50% the value tokenised on its chain, while Solana has fattened by more than 300%. High yieldInstitutions love to make their money work for them. And for that, there’s yield-bearing blockchains — like Solana and Ethereum. In fact, Solana staking is quite the business. Over 81% of SOL on the network — worth about $51 billion — is staked, compared to just 27% of Ether at rival Ethereum.What’s more, Solana is offering roughly 7% annual staking yield, providing institutions with income generation on top of potential price appreciation. Ethereum staking, meanwhile, offers investors about 3%.For asset allocators keen to earn yield on their holdings, Solana’s staking rewards make it easier to justify as an allocation. It’s not just a speculative asset — it’s a productive one that generates cash flow.“Solana has a large potential staking yield,” Hougan told DL News. More upsideFinally, there’s Solana’s size.According to Hougan, the final factor driving institutional interest is that Solana is significantly smaller than Ethereum, offering more room for growth.“It has much higher upside because it’s much smaller than Ethereum,” Hougan said. Ethereum commands a $480 billion market capitalisation. Solana sits at roughly $107 billion. As institutions search for bigger returns, the math is straightforward. From their current sizes, Solana doubling is more plausible than Ethereum doubling, Hougan reckons.Diversified portfoliosSome say, however, that crypto exchange-traded products don’t have the makings of a winner-takes-all. Even if their future bodes well.“Certain investors will be interested in each of those single token ETP products, but we expect many investors to prefer diversified crypto ETP products,” Grayscale’s head of research Zach Pandl told DL News. Because that way investors get exposure to the asset class at large, while reducing the complexity needed to properly assess each individual crypto, Pandl said. And Solana?“Solana ETPs will be very successful,” he added, “but a significant share of institutional investor demand will be directed towards diversified crypto ETPs that incorporate Solana alongside other products.”Pedro Solimano is DL News’ Buenos Aires-based markets correspondent. Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi correspondent. Got a tip? Email at psolimano@dlnews.com and aleks@dlnews.com.Solana is so hot right now — and Ethereum is paying the price.That’s according to Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan as he celebrated the company’s staked Solana exchange-traded fund, BSOL, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday with $220 million in first-day trading volume. BSOL’s trading figures make it the highest launch of any ETF this year across all asset classes, Hougan told DL News. “There’s a lot of pent-up demand for Solana,” he said, projecting the fund will surpass $3 billion in assets — with the potential to “surprise to the upside.” And it’s not alone. Four spot Solana ETFs have already hit the market while 10 more are waiting on approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission.Hougan argues that the enthusiasm around Solana is part of a broader institutional shift. While most institutions will buy both Solana and Ethereum, Hougan says there’s a distinct group of sophisticated buyers gravitating specifically toward Solana. “You have your ‘smarter than your average bear buyer’ who is interested in the challenger asset,” he said. Here are his four reasons why they’ll be betting on Solana. Ship-first attitudeSolana has earned itself a reputation for moving fast and prioritising execution over perfection, Hougan says. While Ethereum spends years debating upgrades, Solana ships products and iterates in real time. That velocity appeals to institutions tired of waiting for Ethereum’s roadmap to materialise, Hougan says. Instead, Solana’s approach mirrors Silicon Valley’s “move fast” ethos.“It’s a ship-first attitude,” said Hougan. He didn’t mention that the full ethos is to “move fast and break stuff.”Leading on tokenisationSolana has become the go-to blockchain for equity tokenisation, with real-world asset projects choosing its infrastructure over competitors, Hougan says. “Solana is leading the race for equity tokenisation,” he said. Why? Speed and costs. Fast transactions and low fees make it practical for financial applications that require thousands of daily transactions. Tokenisation, indeed, has the potential to balloon in the coming years. Asset management behemoths like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton are welcoming tokenisation, forecasting the sector could grow to a stunning $19 trillion over the next decade.To be sure, Ethereum has a sizable lead with $12 billion locked in real world assets, while Solana has about $642 million, accordging to DefiLlama But when comparing both chains for growth in 2025, Ethereum has increased by about 50% the value tokenised on its chain, while Solana has fattened by more than 300%. High yieldInstitutions love to make their money work for them. And for that, there’s yield-bearing blockchains — like Solana and Ethereum. In fact, Solana staking is quite the business. Over 81% of SOL on the network — worth about $51 billion — is staked, compared to just 27% of Ether at rival Ethereum.What’s more, Solana is offering roughly 7% annual staking yield, providing institutions with income generation on top of potential price appreciation. Ethereum staking, meanwhile, offers investors about 3%.For asset allocators keen to earn yield on their holdings, Solana’s staking rewards make it easier to justify as an allocation. It’s not just a speculative asset — it’s a productive one that generates cash flow.“Solana has a large potential staking yield,” Hougan told DL News. More upsideFinally, there’s Solana’s size.According to Hougan, the final factor driving institutional interest is that Solana is significantly smaller than Ethereum, offering more room for growth.“It has much higher upside because it’s much smaller than Ethereum,” Hougan said. Ethereum commands a $480 billion market capitalisation. Solana sits at roughly $107 billion. As institutions search for bigger returns, the math is straightforward. From their current sizes, Solana doubling is more plausible than Ethereum doubling, Hougan reckons.Diversified portfoliosSome say, however, that crypto exchange-traded products don’t have the makings of a winner-takes-all. Even if their future bodes well.“Certain investors will be interested in each of those single token ETP products, but we expect many investors to prefer diversified crypto ETP products,” Grayscale’s head of research Zach Pandl told DL News. Because that way investors get exposure to the asset class at large, while reducing the complexity needed to properly assess each individual crypto, Pandl said. And Solana?“Solana ETPs will be very successful,” he added, “but a significant share of institutional investor demand will be directed towards diversified crypto ETPs that incorporate Solana alongside other products.”Pedro Solimano is DL News’ Buenos Aires-based markets correspondent. Aleks Gilbert is DL News’ New York-based DeFi correspondent. Got a tip? Email at psolimano@dlnews.com and aleks@dlnews.com.