Notice2025-11425
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Order Instituting Proceedings To Determine Whether To Approve or Disapprove a Proposed Rule Change To List and Trade Shares of Franklin Solana ETF Under BZX Rule 14.11(e)(4), Commodity-Based Trust Shares
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 23, 2025
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 118 (Monday, June 23, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 118 (Monday, June 23, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26633-26634]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11425]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-103279; File No. SR-CboeBZX-2025-039]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Order
Instituting Proceedings To Determine Whether To Approve or Disapprove a
Proposed Rule Change To List and Trade Shares of Franklin Solana ETF
Under BZX Rule 14.11(e)(4), Commodity-Based Trust Shares
June 17, 2025.
I. Introduction
On March 12, 2025, Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (``BZX'' or
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``Commission''), pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ a
proposed rule change to list and trade shares (``Shares'') of the
Franklin Solana ETF (``Fund''), a series of the Franklin Solana Trust
(``Trust''), under BZX Rule 14.11(e)(4), Commodity-Based Trust Shares.
The proposed rule change was published for comment in the Federal
Register on March 19, 2025.\3\
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\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
\3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 102651 (Mar. 13,
2025), 90 FR 12824 (``Notice''). Comments received on the proposed
rule change are available at: <a href="https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-cboebzx-2025-039/srcboebzx2025039.htm">https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-cboebzx-2025-039/srcboebzx2025039.htm</a>.
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On April 29, 2025, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,\4\ the
Commission designated a longer period within which to approve the
proposed rule change, disapprove the proposed rule change, or institute
proceedings to determine whether to disapprove the proposed rule
change.\5\ This order institutes proceedings under Section 19(b)(2)(B)
of the Act \6\ to determine whether to approve or disapprove the
proposed rule change.
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\4\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
\5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 102945, 90 FR 19038
(May 5, 2025). The Commission designated June 17, 2025, as the date
by which the Commission shall approve, disapprove, or institute
proceedings to determine whether to disapprove the proposed rule
change.
\6\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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II. Summary of the Proposal
As described in more detail in the Notice,\7\ the Exchange proposes
to list and trade the Shares of the Fund under BZX Rule 14.11(e)(4),
which governs the listing and trading of Commodity-Based Trust Shares
on the Exchange.
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\7\ See Notice, supra note 3.
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The investment objective of the Fund is to seek to reflect
generally the performance of the price of Solana (``SOL''),\8\ before
payment of the Fund's expenses and liabilities.\9\ In seeking to
achieve its investment objective, the Fund will hold only SOL, cash,
and cash equivalents.\10\ The Fund will value its Shares daily as of
4:00 p.m. ET based on the value of the SOL held by the Fund as
reflected by the CME CF Solana Dollar Reference Rate--New York Variant
(``Index'').\11\ When the Trust sells or redeems its Shares, it will do
so in cash or in-kind transactions with authorized participants in
blocks of 50,000 Shares.\12\ The Sponsor may, from time to time, stake
a portion of the Fund's SOL on behalf of the Fund through one or more
trusted staking providers.\13\
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\8\ The Exchange states that SOL is a digital asset that is
created and transmitted through the operations of the peer-to-peer
Solana Network, a decentralized network of computers that operates
on cryptographic protocols. See id. at 12825.
\9\ See id. Franklin Holdings, LLC is the sponsor of the Fund
(``Sponsor''), CSC Delaware Trust Company is the trustee of the
Trust, and Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC will be responsible
for custody of the Fund's SOL (``Custodian''). See id. at 12825,
12827.
\10\ See id. at 12825.
\11\ See id. The Index is calculated daily and aggregates the
notional value of SOL trading activity across major spot SOL trading
platforms. The administrator of the Index is CF Benchmarks Ltd. See
id. at 12828.
\12\ See id.
\13\ See id. at 12829. Such staking providers may include the
Custodian, an affiliate of the Custodian, or an affiliate of the
Sponsor. See id.
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III. Proceedings To Determine Whether To Approve or Disapprove SR-
CboeBZX-2025-039 and Grounds for Disapproval Under Consideration
The Commission is instituting proceedings pursuant to Section
19(b)(2)(B) of the Act \14\ to determine whether the proposed rule
change should be approved or disapproved. Institution of proceedings is
appropriate at this time in view of the legal and policy issues raised
by the proposed rule change. Institution of proceedings does not
indicate that the Commission has reached any conclusions with respect
to any of the issues involved. Rather, the Commission seeks and
encourages interested persons to provide comments on the proposed rule
change.
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\14\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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Pursuant to Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the Act,\15\ the Commission is
providing notice of the grounds for disapproval under consideration.
The Commission is instituting proceedings to allow for additional
analysis of the proposed rule change's consistency with Section 6(b)(5)
of the Act, which requires, among other things, that the rules of a
national securities exchange be ``designed to prevent fraudulent and
manipulative acts and practices'' and ``to protect investors and the
public interest.'' \16\
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\15\ Id.
\16\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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The Commission asks that commenters address the sufficiency of the
Exchange's statements in support of the proposal, which are set forth
in the Notice, in addition to any other comments they may wish to
submit about the proposed rule change. In particular, the Commission
seeks comment on whether the proposal to list and trade Shares of the
Trust, which would hold SOL, is designed to prevent fraudulent and
manipulative acts and practices or raises any new or novel concerns not
previously contemplated by the Commission.
IV. Procedure: Request for Written Comments
The Commission requests that interested persons provide written
submissions of their views, data, and arguments with respect to the
issues identified above, as well as any other concerns they may have
with the proposal. In particular, the Commission invites the written
views of interested persons concerning whether the proposal is
consistent with Section 6(b)(5) or any other provision of the Act, and
the rules and regulations thereunder. Although there do not appear to
be any issues relevant to approval or disapproval that would be
facilitated by an oral presentation of views, data, and arguments, the
Commission will consider, pursuant to Rule 19b-4, any request for an
opportunity to make an oral presentation.\17\
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\17\ Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, as amended by the Securities
Acts Amendments of 1975, Public Law 94-29 (June 4, 1975), grants the
Commission flexibility to determine what type of proceeding--either
oral or notice and opportunity for written comments--is appropriate
for consideration of a particular proposal by a self-regulatory
organization. See Securities Acts Amendments of 1975, Senate Comm.
on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs, S. Rep. No. 75, 94th Cong., 1st
Sess. 30 (1975).
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Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments regarding whether the proposed rule change should be approved
or disapproved by July 14, 2025. Any person who wishes to file a
rebuttal to any other person's submission must file that rebuttal by
July 28, 2025.
Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
[[Page 26634]]
Electronic Comments
<bullet> Use the Commission's internet comment form (<a href="https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml</a>); or
<bullet> Send an email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9fedeaf3fab2fcf0f2f2faf1ebecdfecfafcb1f8f0e9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="582a2d343d753b3735353d362c2b182b3d3b763f372e">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-CboeBZX-2025-039 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
<bullet> Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to file number SR-CboeBZX-2025-039. This
file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To
help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently,
please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on
the Commission's internet website (<a href="https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml</a>). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all
written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are
filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to
the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, other
than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for website viewing and
printing in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of 10
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. Do not
include personal identifiable information in submissions; you should
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. We
may redact in part or withhold entirely from publication submitted
material that is obscene or subject to copyright protection. All
submissions should refer to file number SR-CboeBZX-2025-039 and should
be submitted on or before July 14, 2025. Rebuttal comments should be
submitted by July 28, 2025.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\18\
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\18\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(57).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-11425 Filed 6-20-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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