The upcoming launch of Solana (SOL) futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), a US derivatives exchange, signals that the first US SOL exchange-traded fund (ETF) listings are coming soon, Chris Chung, founder of Solana-based swap platform Titan, told Cointelegraph. 

On March 17, CME is preparing to launch SOL futures contracts. They will be among the first regulated Solana futures to hit the US market after Coinbase’s launched in February. 

The listing “paves the way for the eventual approval of SOL ETFs,” Chung told Cointelegraph.

Chung said he expects the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve asset managers VanEck and Canary Capital’s proposed spot Solana ETFs as soon as May.

The existence of regulated Solana futures “signals to regulators that Solana is maturing as an asset, making it easier for them to greenlight additional financial products of similar risk and type,” Chung said. 

Futures contracts are standardized agreements to buy or sell an underlying asset at a future date. They play a crucial supporting role for spot cryptocurrency ETFs because regulated futures markets provide a stable benchmark for measuring a digital asset’s performance.

CME already lists futures contracts for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). US regulators approved ETFs for both of those cryptocurrencies last year. 

CME already lists crypto futures, including Bitcoin contracts. Source: CME

Related: CME Group reports record crypto volumes for Q4

Beyond memecoins

Additionally, Solana futures and ETFs will help expand Solana’s growth story beyond memecoins, which were central to the blockchain network’s success in 2024, Chung said.

These products “will bring more serious, sticky capital and pave the way for the development of other real-world use cases, such as payments and remittances,” according to Chung. 

Those use cases are “[f]ar more boring than memecoins, perhaps, but a reliable source of long-term revenue that will buoy Solana’s price in the next bear market.”

Memecoin trading, largely tied to the popular Pump.fun platform, comprises roughly 80% of the Solana blockchain network’s revenues, according to asset manager VanEck.

However, activity on the Solana network declined in February after a series of memecoin-related scandals soured sentiment among retail traders. 

Solana vs. Ethereum price chart. Source: TradingView

Rivaling Ethereum

Still, cryptocurrency trading volumes on Solana continue to rival those of the entire Ethereum ecosystem, including its layer-2 scaling chains, VanEck said on March 6. 

Chung said he expects Solana ETFs to take off among retail investors, partly because of the challenges facing rival smart contract platform Ethereum. 

Solana’s native SOL token has performed about twice as well as Ether since early 2024, according to TradingView. 

Ethereum’s spot price has struggled since March 2024, when the network’s Dencun upgrade cut transaction fees by approximately 95%. 

“With the extremely weak price action we’re seeing in ETH, Solana is now the only option for retail investors wanting to get exposure to crypto beyond Bitcoin, but not willing to go full degen,” Chung said.

Bloomberg Intelligence has set the odds of the SEC approving spot Solana and Litecoin ETFs at 70%.

Magazine: What Solana’s critics get right… and what they get wrong

Gaming activity on some layer-2 blockchains rose by over 20,000% in February 2025 while the number of daily unique active wallets (dUAWs) dropped, according to a report by DappRadar.

Abstract, an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain developed by Igloo, the parent company of NFT collection Pudgy Penguins, led all chains with a growth of over 20,000% in daily active unique wallets (dAUWs). Soneium, Sony’s Ethereum L2 blockchain, came in second with a growth of over 3,200%, and Linea, another L2 blockchain, placed third with over 1,000% growth.

Monthly growth of unique active wallets across blockchains. Source: DappRadar

On Abstract and Soneium, two games were the primary drivers of activity growth: Treasure Ship on Abstract, which currently has around 72,000 UAWs, and Evermoon on Soneium, with approximately 32,000 UAWs.

However, despite the rise of gaming activity on L2s, dUAWs overall dropped by 16% compared to January, settling at around 5.8 million. The report notes that while blockchain gaming “has historically held strong market dominance, economic conditions have shifted investor focus back towards DeFi. With market uncertainty causing traders to exit positions, DeFi now leads as the most dominant sector.”

The most dominant blockchains for gaming in terms of dUAWs are opBNB, a layer-2 blockchain built on top of the BNB Smart Chain; independent layer-1 blockchain Aptos built for decentralized applications; and Nebula, which is a Skale chain.

According to the report, blockchain gaming investments soared to $55 million in February, marking a 243% increase from January, with 92% of the funds allocated to infrastructure development.

Blockchain gaming activity sees year-over-year growth, but challenges persist

As Cointelegraph reported in February, blockchain gaming activity saw a significant year-over-year surge, with daily unique active wallets soaring by 386% to 7 million. The sharp rise led some industry observers to speculate about a potential blockchain gaming bull run in 2025 — though that prospect is now under debate.

One of the games that had been drawing attention to the use of blockchains in games was “Off The Grid.” The title, which plans to use an Avalanche subnet, generated more than 100 million transactions in its first month.

The sector, however, has faced challenges. Gunzilla Games Web3 director Theodore Agranat told Cointelegraph that there “is no new money coming into the system,” explaining that existing capital is just being recycled between gaming projects.

“They will just go from project to project and extract whatever value they can from that project,” he said. “And once there’s no more value to be had there, they are going to move on to another project.”

Magazine: Web3 Gamer: How AI could ruin gaming, The Voice, addictive Axies game

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is reportedly proposing cutting the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) workforce by 20% in a change expected to take effect by May 15, 2025.

According to CNN, the cuts would impact an estimated 6,800 employees at the government agency, in addition to the 6,700 probationary employees who have already been let go and 4,700 IRS agents who were given severance packages to retire.

However, a recent ruling from US district judge William Alsup ordering federal agencies to reinstate probationary workers terminated due to the DOGE cost-cutting programs could hinder the layoffs if the order is not overturned.

President Trump has promised comprehensive tax reform in the United States, including potentially eliminating the federal income tax and funding the federal government exclusively through tariffs on foreign goods.

President Trump discussing his policy proposals with reporters inside the Oval Office. Source: The White House

Related: Crypto taxes, DOGE, Trump and avoiding an IRS audit: Taxbit exec spills the tea

DOGE pursues cost-cutting and efficiency strategies

The Department of Government Efficiency, headed by businessman Elon Musk, is exploring methods to reduce the $36 trillion US national debt by substantially reducing the size of the federal bureaucracy and introducing cost-cutting measures.

One of the more unique measures proposed included putting all public spending onchain to reduce deficits and ensure transparency.

On Feb. 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it was cutting its regional office directors to comply with the Trump administration’s cost-saving directives.

However, under the reorganization plan, the regional offices, which are spread out across major US cities, would stay open, and the SEC recently submitted its 2025 budget proposal to Congress requesting $2.6 billion.

The US national debt has exploded to over $36 trillion. Source: US Debt Clock

President Trump and Elon Musk have considered passing on 20% of the DOGE savings to Americans in a stimulus check or potential tax credits.

Research from accounting automation company Dancing Numbers argued that Trump’s plan to eliminate federal income tax could save the average American $134,809 in taxes throughout their lives.

The company added that these lifetime tax savings could extend to as much as $325,561 per person if other wage-based taxes at the state level are also repealed.

Despite this, not everyone is convinced by DOGE’s cost-cutting tactics, including US Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is highly critical of Elon Musk, Trump, and DOGE.

In January 2025, the Massachusetts Senator sent a letter to the DOGE proposing increasing taxes and federal spending to make the government more efficient.

Magazine: Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle