Grayscale Investments has announced a temporary waiver of the sponsor’s fee and a reduction in staking costs for its Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL). This fee suspension will last for up to three months or until the fund’s assets under management reach $1 billion, whichever comes first. The move is designed to attract more institutional capital and reset market perception amid outflows from other Grayscale products.
The firm will stake up to 100% of its Solana holdings, providing investors with a gross staking reward rate of 7.23% and a net staking reward of 6.60%. Inkoo Kang, senior vice president for ETFs at Grayscale, emphasized, “By waiving the management fee and reducing the staking fee for GSOL, we’re directing more of the economics to investors.” He noted that staking began on October 6th, even before GSOL became an exchange-traded product, and highlighted the trust’s diversified validator approach as a key benefit.
This initiative comes as Grayscale’s flagship Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has faced over $12 billion in net outflows since its conversion to a spot Bitcoin ETF in early 2024, largely due to its 1.5% expense ratio compared to rivals charging 0.25%. In contrast, Solana has seen consecutive days of inflows, with institutional investors rebalancing portfolios away from Bitcoin and Ethereum products, which experienced nearly $800 million in outflows recently.
GSOL, which trades on OTCQX, currently has net assets of $88.6 million as of November 4th, representing about 0.10% of SOL’s market share. The fee waiver applies to both new and existing investors, and after the promotional period, Grayscale will charge a 0.35% fee. However, GSOL is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, meaning it lacks the same regulatory protections as conventional ETFs or mutual funds.
Grayscale’s strategy aims to position Solana as a core institutional asset, leveraging its speed, low transaction costs, and growing ecosystem. This bold bet reflects a shift toward alternative blockchains and could redefine institutional crypto exposure beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
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