Bitwise Taps Superstate to Tokenize Solana Staking ETF

Bitwise Asset Management is working with Superstate on a system that would let investors hold shares of some Bitwise funds as blockchain tokens, starting with its Solana staking ETF. The framework would change how ownership of fund shares is recorded without altering the rights attached to those shares or the channels investors use to buy them, Bitwise said Thursday.

“Shareholders could then elect to hold those shares either in traditional book-entry form through The Depository Trust Company or in tokenized form recorded on a blockchain and maintained through Superstate’s transfer agency infrastructure,” Bitwise said.

Under the proposed setup, a shareholder who opts in would receive a token representing the same fund share they would otherwise hold through the DTC. The token would carry the same rights as a book-entry share. The structure is distinct from synthetic products that merely track a fund's performance. What changes is where the official ownership record lives, not the underlying security or the way the fund is managed.

Bitwise, which manages more than $9 billion in client assets across more than 70 investment products, cautioned that the capability is still under development and that its use with an individual fund is not assured. The plan would not create a separate investment product. Investors who choose the blockchain route retain the same shareholder rights as those in conventional book-entry form. Tokenized shares, however, would not be freely transferable outside the blockchain-based system supporting them. Bitwise did not provide a launch date or identify all funds that could eventually support tokenized ownership.

Because the tokenized record would be the official register, shareholders would need to hold the tokens in wallets that Superstate can verify. The registered transfer agent updates ownership records when tokenized shares move between verified wallets, the same process Galaxy Digital used when it put its Nasdaq-listed shares onchain. That mechanism keeps the blockchain record aligned with the official shareholder list without relying on DTC's book-entry system.

Superstate's role in the project extends its work as a transfer agent for securities represented directly on public blockchains. A transfer agent maintains the official list of shareholders. SEC registration, which Superstate Services LLC obtained in March 2025, means the onchain record can serve as that list rather than as a parallel shadow record. Crypto.news reported at the time that Superstate initially planned to use the registration for its own USTB and USCC funds before making the infrastructure available to other securities issuers. The company's Opening Bell platform, introduced in May 2025, was built to issue SEC-registered shares on public blockchains, starting with Solana, carrying ownership rights rather than just price exposure. Galaxy Digital used that infrastructure in September 2025 to put its Nasdaq-listed shares onchain, with Superstate updating shareholder records when tokenized shares moved between verified wallets. Galaxy structured the tokens as direct legal representations of the company's shares rather than wrappers or synthetic instruments. That registration is what gives tokenized securities their legal footing as direct representations of corporate stock, rather than as derivative bets on price.

The tokenized-equity format has also reached trading platforms; Bybit's tokenized stock listings are one example.

Bitwise expects the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF, or BSOL, to be the first product to use the system, with "no assurance" that tokenization will ultimately launch. BSOL began trading on NYSE Arca in October 2025 after the exchange completed the listing process, holding SOL directly and incorporating staking rewards generated from the fund's SOL. Its first-day net inflows were $69.45 million, lifting total assets to $288.92 million. The fund crossed $500 million within its first 18 days and by mid-May 2026 had about $861 million, roughly 81% of the assets in the Solana ETF products tracked at the time. It stores its SOL in institutional cold storage and tracks the Compass Solana Total Return Monthly Index after fees and expenses. The total return index captures both SOL's price moves and staking yield, which is why the benchmark is described as a total return index. The management fee was set at 0.20% when the product launched.

Bitwise has also been adding staking to other proposed products. In July the firm amended its planned NEAR ETF to include staking and named NYSE Arca and Coinbase Custody in the filing.

Superstate also works with traditional fund issuers. In June it was selected to provide blockchain support for Invesco's proposed Stablecoin Reserves Onchain Fund and to maintain its blockchain-integrated shareholder registry. Invesco's filing described a structure connecting conventional fund records with onchain ownership tokens. The portfolio itself was designed as a Rule 2a-7 government money market fund holding cash and short-term Treasurys. The arrangement builds on an existing relationship: Invesco took over day-to-day portfolio management of Superstate's tokenized U.S. Treasury fund earlier in 2026, while Superstate kept providing the tokenization services through FundOS. The Invesco fund is still proposed; BSOL has traded since October 2025, which would make it the first operating ETF to move its ownership record onto a blockchain if the plan goes ahead.

Coinbase Asset Management's CUSHY digital credit fund, introduced in April, also runs on FundOS, with tokenized shares for qualified institutional investors on Ethereum and Solana. Superstate describes its business as infrastructure for securities issuance and shareholder recordkeeping.

The tokenization project landed days after Bitwise confirmed a reduction in its workforce. The firm cut 14% of its employees, leaving about 155 people. Chief executive Hunter Horsley told The Block the reductions were meant to better equip the company for growth. Bitwise operates a wide range of crypto investment products; filings or launches have covered XRP, Sui, Aave, Zcash and Tron. A filing earlier in 2026 proposed 11 hybrid-structure ETFs, with Coinbase Custody Trust Company named as custodian. The proposed funds had not received final ticker symbols at the time.