Fidelity decided Tuesday was a good day to make some noise in the crypto ETF space. The firm rolled out the Fidelity Solana Fund (FSOL), marking its third spot crypto ETF and its first venture into SOL, the native token powering the Solana blockchain. For context, Solana sits at roughly $80 billion in value, making it one of the heavyweight smart-contract platforms and a legitimate challenger to Ethereum's $380 billion dominance.

Here's where it gets interesting: FSOL is launching with temporary fee waivers on both its expense ratio and staking-reward fees, running through May 18, 2026. After that grace period ends, investors will pay a 0.25% expense ratio plus a 15% cut of staking rewards. That pricing lands squarely in the middle—cheaper than some competitors, pricier than others.

The Staking Game

Like the other Solana ETFs that hit the market this year, FSOL plans to stake up to 100% of its holdings, though there's no minimum requirement baked in. Staking is basically how tokenholders pitch in to validate network transactions and earn rewards for their trouble. Think of it as crypto's answer to dividend yield—it's central to why investors find Solana appealing in the first place.

Fidelity will handle custody and staking through a combination of one or more node operators plus the usual suspects: Anchorage Digital Bank NA, BitGo Trust Company, and Coinbase Custody Trust Company. They'll keep some SOL on the sidelines to cover redemptions, liquidity needs, and expenses. The staking fees get divvied up among custodians, node operators, and Fidelity when applicable.

But here's the thing: FSOL is walking into a room that's already pretty crowded. Leading the pack is the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), a $418 million behemoth that stakes 100% of its SOL holdings and delivers a 7.1% reward rate. What sets Bitwise apart is that it runs its own validator instead of outsourcing to someone else. The firm also built a liquidity backstop to handle those awkward delays when unstaking, ensuring redemptions don't get hung up. BSOL's 0.20% expense ratio and 6% staking fee are currently waived for the first three months on its first $1 billion in assets.

Then there's Grayscale's $89 million Grayscale Solana Trust ETF (GSOL), which also aims for full staking but charges a steeper toll: 0.35% expense ratio plus a hefty 23% staking fee.

Earlier this week, VanEck joined the party with the VanEck Solana ETF (VSOL), offering SOL exposure with a waived sponsor fee at launch for the first $1 billion in assets.

So now you've got four major players duking it out over fees, staking strategies, and who can deliver the best yield. Fidelity's entry intensifies what was already shaping up to be a competitive scrap for crypto investors looking to earn rewards on their Solana holdings. The question is whether Fidelity's middle-of-the-road pricing and multi-custodian approach will win over investors, or if Bitwise's validator advantage and liquidity setup will keep it in the lead.