For six consecutive trading days, starting October 28, when Bitwise launched the BSOL US Solana ETF, it pulled in $284 million, while Bitcoin and Ethereum funds bled capital.
According to Farside Investors’ data, Bitcoin ETFs lost $1.7 billion over the same stretch. Ethereum products shed $473 million.
The divergence wasn’t subtle, and it arrived at a moment when macroeconomic headwinds, consisting of a hawkish Fed posture and a strengthening dollar, typically drain risk appetite across crypto.
Instead, the new Solana wrappers absorbed steady creations while the incumbents faced redemptions.
The question is whether this marks genuine allocator rotation or simply the front-loaded enthusiasm that accompanies any new ETF launch, amplified by a temporary risk-off swing that made Bitcoin and Ethereum look overextended.
The mechanics of a dislocation
Through Nov. 4, Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs together posted roughly $797 million in single-day outflows as sentiment soured.
Meanwhile, Solana funds continued printing small but unbroken net creations. CoinShares’ weekly data for the period ending Oct. 31 tells the same story at the global ETP level.
Bitcoin products led outflows, while Solana took in about $421 million, its second-largest week on record, driven entirely by US launches.
Farside’s issuer-level tapes confirm the pattern across sessions. Bitcoin funds bled through multiple days into early November, while Ethereum flipped negative. Meanwhile, both US Solana ETFs have maintained positive flows every trading day since their debut.
These bits suggest that Solana’s ability to attract capital isn’t just noise.
Sustained redemptions in Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs mechanically shrink their share of total crypto ETF assets under management and reduce daily primary-market demand for the underlying tokens.
Persistent creations in Solana ETFs tighten available float and deepen secondary liquidity in SOL.
If the flows cadence persists over weeks rather than days, index constructors, allocators, and market makers recalibrate exposures and inventory toward Solana, which tends to amplify relative performance in both directions.
Launch windows versus real demand.
Solana flows sit squarely in the classic new-product launch window, which routinely front-loads creations.
Farside’s dashboard shows substantial seed and conversion capital at launch, particularly for Grayscale’s GSOL. The first three days delivered unusually strong results before the pace decelerated.
If the post-launch run rate settles back toward low-single-digit millions per day while Bitcoin and Ethereum outflows slow as the macro tape stabilizes, the rotation narrative collapses into a launch artifact.
However, if US-traded Solana funds continue to absorb net creations after seed capital is exhausted, potentially four to six consecutive weeks of positive flows, while Bitcoin and Ethereum funds continue to leak due to macro jitters, the reweighting becomes durable.
CoinShares already attributes last week’s Solana strength to US ETF demand, rather than a single issuer’s anomaly.
That combination suggests genuine allocator rotation, not just launch mechanics disguised as strategy.
Eric Balchunas noted on Nov. 1 that BSOL led all crypto ETPs “by a country mile” in weekly flows with $417 million, ranking 16th in overall flows across all ETFs for the week. BSOL outperformed even BlackRock’s IBIT, which posted a rare off-week.
That’s distribution at work, but it’s also a signal that allocators with new mandates found room in their sleeves for Solana exposure without waiting for Bitcoin or Ethereum to stabilize first.
Who decides the endgame?
What to watch next is the post-launch steady state in Solana creations versus Bitcoin and Ethereum redemptions.
If Solana maintains positive net creations once seed flows dissipate and Bitcoin and Ethereum remain net negative on rolling weekly windows, treat the move as structural.
If Solana creations taper to flat and the incumbents stabilize, this was a launch-window blip amplified by a risk-off week that made everything feel more decisive than it was.
The stakes are distribution defaults and liquidity gravity. Solana doesn’t need to overtake Bitcoin or Ethereum in total assets to win this round. It just needs to prove that a well-timed ETF launch can attract capital even when macroeconomic conditions favor retreat.
If that holds, the lesson for the next altcoin ETF wave is clear: distribution creates its own demand, and timing the launch to coincide with a dip in incumbent flows can accelerate the shift.
The allocators writing the tickets over the next month will decide whether Solana’s ETF debut was a sign of an opening or an anomaly.
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