With back-to-back ETFs, the crypto market is entering one of its most aggressive adoption phases yet. Notably, this momentum isn’t limited to Bitcoin [BTC]. Instead, institutions are finally diversifying into altcoins too.

Even without a confirmed “altcoin season,” the data has been seeing steady institutional demand. Solana [SOL] is leading the charge, having rolled out six spot SOL ETFs in Q4 and pulled in about $622 million in inflows so far.

Notably, almost 95% of that capital has gone into Bitwise’s BSOL ETF, effectively positioning it as the BlackRock-tier heavyweight of the Solana ecosystem. In short, 2025 has finally brought altcoins into the spotlight.

Building on this momentum is Vanguard Group.

For context, Vanguard is one of the world’s largest asset managers, managing over $11 trillion and serving more than 50 million investors. In a significant policy shift, the firm has opened its platform to crypto ETFs.

Announced on 02 December, this move reverses Vanguard’s long-held position against crypto ETFs. This is a clear nod towards growing institutional demand for crypto. Among top-caps, Solana is also part of the mix.

Why Vanguard is backing Solana despite price headwinds

Vanguard’s move to support a SOL ETF isn’t just bullish for Solana.

Instead, it also highlights a broader shift in institutional focus toward altcoins. Until Q4 2025, Ethereum [ETH] was the only altcoin with Spot ETFs in the U.S. However, that’s changing fast.

In this context, Vanguard’s adoption of SOL marks a turning point. Even former skeptics are starting to diversify into a market once considered too volatile. Given SOL’s price action, that caution is understandable though. 

Notably, this policy shift comes at a particularly volatile moment too. 

On the charts, Solana is still one of the “worst-performing assets” across multiple timeframes. In fact, zoomed out, SOL is down about 28% on the year – Marking its worst annual performance since the -95% drop in 2022.

The weekly and daily charts tell a similar story. So, what exactly is Vanguard betting on? Looking at the price alone, the ROI isn’t compelling. So, is this move driven more by Solana’s fundamentals than by short-term gains?

Solana’s scalability and adoption drive upside

No doubt, Solana has lived up to its “Ethereum killer” tag.

While price action hasn’t always reflected it, the fundamentals tell a different story. Notably, Chainspect data makes that clear, explaining why Vanguard’s bet on SOL matters.

According to Chainspect, Solana’s scalability metrics revealed a 4.78% jump in real-time TPS [1H] to 798.5 txs/s and transaction finality at 12.8 seconds. This puts it among the most-efficient high-cap blockchains currently.

Against this setup, Vanguard’s bet on Solana clearly looks long-term.

As a result, a $500-target (Roughly a 270% rally from SOL’s press time price) can’t be entirely ruled out. The upcoming Alpenglow upgrade, slated for Q1 2026, is expected to give Solana’s fundamentals an additional boost.

Combined with growing institutional adoption, these developments will position SOL for potentially substantial upside over the coming year. Especially as improvements in scalability strengthen its long-term fundamentals.

Final Thoughts

• Institutions are steadily rotating into Solana, with Vanguard’s policy reversal signaling long-term confidence despite weak price action.
• Network upgrades and rising scalability metrics support the case for a multi-quarter recovery, keeping a $500 target within reach.

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Author: Ritika Gupta