REX

REX Shares is a U.S.-registered exchange-traded products (ETP) provider that builds alternative-strategy ETFs, with a growing focus on digital assets. Through its partnership with Osprey Funds under the shared brand REX-Osprey, the firm launched the first American ETF to combine spot Solana exposure with native on-chain staking rewards — a product that required navigating a novel regulatory path and brought Solana's proof-of-stake yield mechanism into the mainstream brokerage ecosystem for the first time.

Company Background

REX Shares was founded in 2015 by Greg King, who previously co-founded VelocityShares (acquired by Janus Capital in 2014) and held roles at Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, and Global X Management. In June 2024, REX Shares reorganized its business lines — including the MicroSectors and T-REX product families — under a new parent entity called REX Financial, with King reassuming the CEO role. The firm surpassed $5 billion in assets under management across its product range at the time of the reorganization.

Greg King is also founder and CEO of Osprey Funds, a digital-asset investment firm, making the REX-Osprey collaboration an extension of the same leadership rather than a conventional third-party partnership.

The REX-Osprey Solana + Staking ETF (SSK)

SSK launched on July 2, 2025, on the Cboe BZX Exchange, becoming the first U.S.-listed ETF to provide both spot Solana price exposure and on-chain staking rewards within a single fund registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. On its first day of trading, the fund attracted $12 million in inflows and $33 million in trading volume. Within approximately two months of launch, assets under management surpassed $150 million.

The fund carries a gross expense ratio of 0.75% per year. All staking rewards flow entirely to shareholders — neither REX Shares nor Osprey Funds retains any portion of staking income — and are distributed to investors on a monthly basis.

Fund Structure and Composition

SSK holds approximately 80% of its assets in Solana, with roughly half of those tokens actively staked through on-chain validator participation. As of mid-2025, the fund's portfolio was allocated across three positions:

• Direct spot SOL held in cold storage: approximately 53% of assets
• CoinShares Physical Staked Solana, an ETP that itself holds staked SOL: approximately 43%
• [[TOKEN:J1toso1uCk3RLmjorhTtrVwY9HJ7X8V9yYac6Y7kGCPn]] (JitoSOL), a [[PROJECT:228]] liquid staking token: approximately 4%

This multi-layered structure — holding both direct SOL and other staking-enabled ETPs — was deliberately engineered so the fund could allocate at least 40% of assets to existing exchange-traded products. That threshold allowed SSK to be registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 rather than requiring a full 19b-4 SEC rule change, bypassing the more time-consuming approval process that had delayed other crypto product launches.

Custodian and Staking Infrastructure

Anchorage Digital serves as SSK's custodian and staking partner. Anchorage holds federal banking approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, making it the only federally regulated bank authorized to both custody and stake digital assets in the United States. The fund selects validator partners to optimize staking uptime and reward efficiency, with staking rewards passed directly to shareholders rather than retained by any intermediary.

At the time of launch, the fund's estimated annual staking yield was 7.3%, based on prevailing Solana network staking rates as of July 2025.

Options and Expanded Market Access

Options trading on SSK became available after launch, enabling investors to hedge positions, generate income, or capitalize on SOL volatility using standard options strategies through conventional brokerage accounts — all without directly holding or staking SOL on-chain.

Performance Context

Like all crypto-native products, SSK is directly exposed to Solana price volatility. As of March 31, 2026, the fund had returned -46.55% since inception (NAV basis), reflecting the broader SOL price decline from its mid-2025 highs. Current monthly distributions are classified as return of capital rather than investment income, consistent with the fund's tax treatment as a C corporation. Investors should weigh staking yield against SOL price risk in evaluating the product.

T-REX Leveraged Solana ETF (SOLX)

Separately from SSK, REX Shares sponsors the T-REX 2X Long SOL Daily Target ETF (SOLX), which launched December 2, 2025, managed by Tuttle Capital Management at an annual fee of 1.50%. SOLX does not hold spot SOL; instead it uses swaps and derivatives referencing existing spot Solana ETPs to provide twice the daily return of Solana. As a daily-reset leveraged product, it is designed for short-term trading rather than long-term holding, as compounding effects cause the fund's returns to diverge from a simple 2x multiple over longer periods.

A companion product, the T-REX 2X Long XRP Daily Target ETF (XRPK), launched on the same date under identical terms.

Solana Ecosystem Significance

SSK was the first U.S.-registered ETF to bring Solana staking into the public markets, packaging a yield-generating mechanism that previously required direct protocol participation — validator delegation, on-chain wallet management, technical knowledge — into a fund accessible from any U.S. brokerage account. For institutional investors and retirement accounts that cannot hold crypto assets directly, the fund provides both price exposure and a stake in Solana's block reward economy without any on-chain interaction required.

The fund's reliance on JitoSOL for a portion of its staking exposure also creates an indirect connection to Jito's liquid staking infrastructure, one of the largest staking protocols on Solana by total value locked.

Regulatory Considerations

SSK is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The fund's prospectus notes that any final judicial or regulatory determination classifying SOL as a security under U.S. law could materially impair the value of SOL holdings and potentially require fund termination. Investors in SSK bear this regulatory risk in addition to standard market and staking-protocol risks.