Morgan Stanley Launches Spot Ether, Solana ETPs on NYSE Arca

Morgan Stanley Investment Management launched the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust on NYSE Arca, spot exchange-traded products that will stake portions of their holdings, the firm said in a press release published Tuesday.

The launch deepens the first crypto ETP franchise from a major U.S. bank-affiliated asset manager, and the staking feature puts Morgan Stanley ahead of most incumbents on yield: both funds intend to stake a portion of their ether or SOL, and MSIM said it will not keep any of the rewards for itself.

The trusts, trading under MSSE and MSOL, each charge a 0.14% expense ratio and track the CoinDesk Ether and Solana Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rates. They follow the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, which launched earlier this year as the first cryptocurrency ETP from a U.S. bank-affiliated asset manager and held more than $381 million in assets through July 16, according to the release.

"The addition of MSSE and MSOL reflects the natural evolution of our product suite, which seeks to provide simplified access to digital assets through the ETP wrapper," Ally Wallace, global head of ETFs for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said in the release.

Ether rose 0.7% and SOL 0.4% in the past 24 hours, both trailing Bitcoin's 1.3% gain, according to CoinGecko.

Staking From Day One

Passing through staking rewards at launch separates the products from the first wave of U.S. spot crypto funds, which added staking only after regulatory treatment loosened. The 0.14% fee undercuts most established spot ether products and sits near the floor of the category.

"As client interest in digital assets continues to grow, we're focused on providing a range of digital asset solutions that allow investors to diversify their portfolios across traditional and decentralized asset classes while also adhering to Morgan Stanley's standards for governance, infrastructure and risk management," Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset strategy at Morgan Stanley, said in the release.

MSIM's ETF and ETP lineup, launched in 2023, has grown past $14 billion in assets across 22 products, including the three digital asset trusts, per the release. For a wealth management giant whose advisors spent years restricted from soliciting crypto products, the in-house suite now spans the three largest proof-of-stake and proof-of-work assets by market capitalization.