$SOL Analysis : Will Solana’s price hit $500 after Vanguard’s SOL ETF decision?
Back-to-back ETF launches have pushed crypto into one of its strongest institutional adoption phases yet. And this time, the momentum isn’t confined to Bitcoin. Capital is finally rotating into altcoins, with Solana taking the clear lead.
Despite the absence of a full-blown “altcoin season,” inflows have been impressive. Six spot Solana ETFs went live in Q4, pulling in roughly $622 million. Nearly 95% of that capital flowed into Bitwise’s BSOL fund, making it the de-facto institutional giant of the Solana ecosystem. Altcoins, for the first time since 2021, are firmly back on Wall Street’s radar.
Fueling this trend is a major shift from Vanguard — a $11 trillion asset manager that historically rejected crypto products. On 2 December, Vanguard officially opened its platform to crypto ETFs, signaling a sharp reversal and acknowledging overwhelming investor demand. And yes, Solana is part of that lineup.
What makes this move striking is the timing. Solana is still one of the weakest performers across multiple timeframes, down about 28% year-to-date. But institutions clearly aren’t buying SOL for short-term ROI. They’re buying the fundamentals.
Chainspect data reveals Solana’s real-time TPS climbed to 798.5 and transaction finality sits at just 12.8 seconds — metrics that keep it among the highest-performing blockchains globally. With the Alpenglow upgrade coming in Q1 2026, scalability is expected to jump even further.
Against that backdrop, Vanguard’s bet looks long-horizon. And with ETFs accelerating inflows, a move toward $500 over the next cycle is no longer unrealistic.
