The collaboration aims to bring regulated custody and staking for JitoSOL to South Korea as institutions prepare for new crypto rules. Jito Foundation has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korean digital asset custodian KODA to explore institutional custody and staking support for JitoSOL in the local market. According to Monday’s announcement, the agreement includes outreach to institutional investors and the development of compliant custody and staking pathways. It comes as South Korea’s Financial Services Commission is expected to finalize a digital asset regulatory framework later this year. Read more
The product offers exchange-traded exposure to JitoSOL with staking rewards embedded, as liquid staking ETFs remain under review in the United States. 21Shares has launched a Jito-staked Solana exchange-traded product in Europe, offering listed exposure to the SOL token with staking embedded. The 21Shares Jito Staked SOL ETP will trade under the ticker JSOL in US dollars and euros and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Paris, making it the first Europe-listed ETP backed by JitoSOL, according to the company. The product holds JitoSOL directly and reflects staking rewards in its net asset value. Issued by the Jito Network, JitoSOL represents SOL (SOL) deposited into a liquid staking program on the Solana network, where staked tokens remain transferable rather than locked. Holding JitoSOL allows investors to earn staking yield through a liquid token, without directly delegating to validators or managing onchain staking operations. Read more
The investment deepens a16z’s exposure to Solana’s liquid staking ecosystem as US regulators begin clarifying how such products fit into securities law. A16z Crypto, the blockchain investment arm of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has invested $50 million in Jito, a liquid staking protocol that underpins the Solana network. The deal will grant a16z an undisclosed allotment of Jito’s native tokens at a discounted rate, according to a Fortune report Thursday. Brian Smith, executive director of the Jito Foundation, told Cointelegraph that the Jito Foundation has “an exceptionally long time horizon,” and the investment “will allow the Foundation to work to make Solana the home for internet capital markets well into the next decade.” Read more