Here’s What Happened in Crypto Market Today: Rebound & ETFs

Crypto Market Sees Solana ETF Surge, Kraken IPO Buzz, UK Token Moves

Crypto Market Rebounds 1.39% as Layer 2 Innovations Spark Optimism

The developments in Layer 2 solutions are one of the major factors that contributed to the recent change in the markets. The pilot of Ethereum Layer 2 by SWIFT and PayPal, becoming an Arbitrum native, has given the world increased confidence, and now the growth of scaling solutions on the blockchain looks optimistic.

Moreover, the retail markets has been a busy market. Exceptional growth of ApeX Protocol of 187% has drawn both traders and fans to the project.

In the meantime, the derivatives market has shown signs of life. The volume of futures trading increased by 89.9%, which means that traders are returning to the speculative mode.

As for major cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading above the $109k level, showing some signs of consolidation following a bearish trend over the past week. Ethereum (ETH) is hovering around the $4k mark, maintaining a sideways trend despite recent markets fluctuations.

Solana Staking ETFs May Soon Get US Approval

The crypto market is buzzing with the news that several Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could gain approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the next two weeks. 

Analyst Nate Geraci, President of NovaDius Wealth Management, has predicted that approval could happen by mid-October. His observations are after new filings of major asset managers, such as Franklin Templeton, Fidelity Investments, CoinShares, and Grayscale Investment.

These asset managers have recently filed revised S-1 filings, which is an indication that they are committed to the launch of spot Solana ETFs with staking options. According to Geraci, the filings highlight a possible approval in the next fortnight, which will bring even more momentum to the increasing Solana popularity in the crypto market.

Source: Tweet

These Solana ETFs have been approved after the REX-Osprey Solana Staking ETF became a reality on the Cboe BZX Exchange in July. This ETF has also had a massive trading volume and inflows, which indicates an increasing demand for Solana staking products.

The fact that these new ETFs will be approved to enter the market soon may further cement Solana as a player in the crypto market and make it more accessible to even more investors.

Kraken’s Strong Financial Position Ahead of IPO

Kraken, which is one of the oldest and largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has also reportedly raised $500 million of funding, which leads the exchange to a valuation of 15 billion. This round of funding that closed earlier this month is viewed as a positive sign of Kraken being prepared to eventually hold an initial public offering (IPO).

The decision by Kraken to solidify its financial base comes at the time when there is increasing speculation that the firm is about to undergo a public listing. Even though Kraken has not submitted any official documentation to the SEC as of now, the improved financial reporting of the company indicates the possibility of an IPO in the future.

Since its inception in 2011, the exchange has been trading in billions of dollars each day, and it is one of the leading companies in the worldwide crypto exchange markets.

UK Banks Pilot Tokenized Sterling Deposits

The financial sector of the UK is also striding in the crypto market. The UK Finance is a trade association of more than 300 financial companies, which have initiated a pilot project based on tokenized sterling deposits. 

The objective of the project is to transform the traditional British pound and make payment and settlement processes more efficient.

The pilot will continue until mid-2026, and six large UK banks have signed up to it, such as Barclays, HSBC, and Lloyds. Some of the use cases that the tokenized deposits project will be tested on are online marketplaces and wholesale bond settlements. It is a move that can open the gateway to the new generation of programmable money in the UK.