SOL ETF Filed; Japan to Prop Up Yen

Crypto News:

VanEck Files for Solana ETF, SOL Rises 8%

Asset manager VanEck filed to sell shares in a Solana (SOL) exchange-traded fund (ETF), the first such registration in the U.S., just six days after 3iQ filed for a similar product in Canada. The S-1 registration form lodged with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), helped lift the SOL token's 24-hour gain to almost 8%. The CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), a measure of the broader crypto market, has added 1.8%. VanEck has been known to be a first mover in this space. The asset manager was the first to file for a spot ether (ETH) ETF back in 2021, almost three years before the SEC began to engage with issuers that now include BlackRock, Fidelity, Ark Invest and others. An additional filing was lodged in September last year.  

Ether Spot ETFs Could See $5B of Net Inflows in the First Five Months

Ether (ETH) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), once approved for trading, could see $1 billion of net inflows a month, Galaxy (GLXY) Research said in a report on Wednesday. “We expect the net inflows into ETH ETFs to be 20-50% of the net inflows into BTC ETFs over the first five months, with 30% as our target, implying $1 billion/month of net inflows,” analyst Charles Yu wrote. Ether ETFs are close to becoming available for trading in the U.S. after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved filings from applicants last month. The regulator must also approve their S-1 filings before the products are cleared to trade.  

Global News:

Switzerland makes second interest rate cut

The Swiss National Bank on Thursday trimmed its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%, continuing cuts at a time when sentiment over monetary policy easing remains mixed among major economies. Two thirds of economists polled by Reuters had anticipated the SNB would decide in favor of a 25-basis-point-cut to 1.25%. The Swiss franc weakened in the wake of the announcement, with the Euro gaining 0.3% and the U.S. dollar up 0.5% against the Swiss currency at 8:55 a.m. London time. The Swiss bank said it now anticipates economic growth of around 1% this year and around 1.5% in 2025, anticipating slight increases in unemployment and small declines in the utilization of production capacity.  

Japan signals it may prop up yen after currency falls to 38-year low

The Japanese finance chief made his comments after the yen weakened to 160.88 against the dollar late on Wednesday, its lowest level since 1986. The latest slump comes amid signals from the US Federal Reserve that it will keep interest rates elevated for longer and concerns over political uncertainty in Europe ahead of the French parliamentary elections. Japan last intervened to support its currency in April after it hit a 34-year low, buying up a record 9.788 trillion yen ($62.2bn). Authorities also stepped into the foreign exchange market three times in 2022. The yen has lost more than one-third of its value since early 2021 as investors sell off the currency amid the yawning gap between US and Japanese interest rates.

Local News:

‘Forceful’ BSP intervention stops peso fall

A “forceful” intervention by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) prevented the peso from hitting a new 20-month low on Thursday, demonstrating the central bank’s readiness to defend the local currency from speculative attacks. The peso closed at 58.75 against the greenback, much stronger than its previous day finish of 58.86. On Thursday, the local unit’s worst showing stood at 58.92—a few centavos away from the record-low 59 it hit in late 2022—after Governor Eli Remolona Jr. struck a tone that is “somewhat more dovish than before.” While many economists had attributed the bearish sentiment on the peso to hawkish signals from the US Federal Reserve—which is expected to delay its rate cuts amid persistently high inflation stateside—some observers also said the volatility can also be due to dovish remarks from some BSP officials recently.