Solana Surges as CME Plans Futures Launch

Solana's price defied the broader cryptocurrency market slump on Friday, emerging as the top performer among the leading digital assets. The token's surge came after CME Group, the world's largest derivatives marketplace, announced plans to introduce Solana futures in March, subject to regulatory approval.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group is set to launch Solana futures on March 17, expanding its crypto derivatives offerings beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The new contracts will be cash-settled and based on the CME CF Solana-Dollar Reference Rate, allowing traders to manage Solana price risk with micro-sized contracts of 25 SOL and larger-sized contracts of 500 SOL.

CME Group's global head of cryptocurrency products, Giovanni Vicioso, stated that the launch of SOL futures contracts responds to increasing client demand for a broader set of regulated products to manage cryptocurrency price risk. CME already offers BTC and ETH futures, which have seen significant growth in trading activity, with an average daily volume of over 200,000 contracts in 2025, a 70% increase from 2024.

If approved, the introduction of SOL futures will be the first time institutions can gain exposure to SOL, the industry's sixth-largest digital asset by market value. CME's decision to list SOL futures also increases the likelihood of regulatory approval for corresponding spot ETF filings in the foreseeable future, as futures often act as a precursor for ETF products.

Several asset management firms, including Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Bitwise, Canary, 21Shares, and VanEck, have applied for Solana-based ETFs with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has recently acknowledged some of these filings, with a decision expected later this year. Market observers are optimistic about potential approval, with JPMorgan projecting that SOL ETFs could pull in $3 billion to $6 billion in assets within their first months of trading.

Despite the overall decline in digital assets on Friday, SOL was trading at $145.61, up 7.8% over the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.