Solana Price Rise Defies Broader Crypto Slump As CME Group Confirms Launch Date For SOL Futures

Solana outperformed most cryptocurrencies Friday as most cryptocurrencies sank further into negative territory. Notably, SOL emerged as the best performer among the top 10 crypto assets over the last 24 hours.

The token’s upsurge came after CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives marketplace, announced it will introduce Solana futures in March, pending approval by U.S. financial regulators.

The confirmation follows earlier speculation that a leak on the exchange’s staging website signaled XRP and Solana futures were in the pipeline.

CME To Launch SOL Futures On March 17

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group is set to introduce Solana futures on March 17, further expanding its crypto derivatives beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

According to the Friday press release, the new contracts will allow traders to manage Solana price risk with micro-sized contracts of 25 SOL and larger-sized contracts of 500 SOL.

“With the launch of our new SOL futures contracts, we are responding to increasing client demand for a broader set of regulated products to manage cryptocurrency price risk,” Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group global head of cryptocurrency products, posited in a statement. 

The contracts would be cash-settled, based on the CME CF Solana-Dollar Reference Rate, which tracks the price of SOL daily. CME already offers BTC and ETH futures, which have seen impressive growth in trading activity. The company registered an average daily volume of over 200,000 contracts in 2025 — a 70% increase from 2024.

If approved, it will be the first time institutions can gain exposure to SOL, the industry’s sixth largest digital asset by market value.

SOL ETFs Next?

Notably, CME’s decision to list SOL futures greatly increases the likelihood that corresponding spot ETF filings could be greenlighted in the foreseeable future as futures typically act as a precursor for regulatory approval of ETF products.

Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Bitwise, Canary, 21Shares, and VanEck have all applied for Solana-based ETFs with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 

The SEC recently acknowledged a handful of these filings, with the regulator’s decision expected later this year. Pundits are optimistic about potential approval, with JPMorgan projecting that SOL ETFs will pull in $3 billion- $6 billion in assets within their first months of trading.

As ZyCrypto reported earlier this week, two proposed SOL futures ETFs– the Volatility Shares Solana ETF (SOLZ) and Volatility Shares 2x Solana ETF (SOLT) — were added to the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website, marking a step toward potential market debut.

Despite most digital assets tumbling on Friday, SOL was changing hands for $145.61 up 7.8% over the last 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows.