Morgan Stanley has taken one other step towards launching its spot Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded funds, submitting second-amended S-1 registration statements with the U.S. Securities and Change Fee on Thursday. The up to date filings introduce an in depth price construction and staking mechanism for each merchandise — and in doing so, place Morgan Stanley to supply the most cost effective ETH and SOL ETFs presently accessible in the US.
Second Modification Alerts SEC Progress
The filings symbolize the second amendments for each the ETH and SOL ETF purposes, which had been initially submitted in January. Whereas the SEC has not but accredited both fund, amended filings of this nature are extensively interpreted as an indication of energetic, ongoing dialogue between an issuer and the regulator. Every revision sometimes displays responses to SEC suggestions and motion towards a last approval determination.
The Ethereum fund is anticipated to commerce beneath the ticker image MSSE, and the Solana fund beneath MSOL. No agency launch dates have been introduced, as these stay contingent on SEC clearance.
Morgan Stanley Recordsdata Low Charge Ethereum, Solana ETFs
Charges Set Beneath Each Current Competitor
The headline disclosure in Thursday’s filings is the price construction. Each the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Belief and the Morgan Stanley Solana Belief would cost a 0.14% annual sponsor price, calculated every day primarily based on every fund’s web asset worth and paid on a month-to-month foundation.
That price undercuts each present ETH and SOL ETF presently available on the market. Grayscale’s Mini Ethereum Belief presently gives the bottom Ethereum ETF sponsor price at 0.15%, whereas Franklin Templeton’s SOEZ fees the bottom fee amongst Solana ETFs at 0.19%, in keeping with information from SoSoValue. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas weighed in on the event, noting that the 14 foundation level fee would make each funds “the most cost effective within the U.S. and world.”
Making use of the identical rock-bottom pricing to each Ether and Solana suggests Morgan Stanley intends to compete totally on value, leaning on its giant wealth-management and advisory community to channel consumer belongings into its personal merchandise reasonably than rivals’.
The price technique mirrors the strategy the financial institution used to interrupt into the Bitcoin ETF market. Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin Belief (MSBT) launched in April, benefiting from its 0.14% sponsor price that undercut established spot Bitcoin funds. As of June 18, MSBT has drawn in $300.7 million in cumulative web inflows.
Staking Baked Into Each Funds
Past the charges, the amendments introduce staking performance to each merchandise — a characteristic that might give Morgan Stanley’s ETFs a significant yield benefit over funds that maintain crypto with out placing it to work.
The proposed construction would preserve 95% of staking rewards contained in the trusts, with 5% paid to staking service suppliers and custodians as compensation. Figment Inc., Galaxy Blockchain Infrastructure LLC, and Coinbase Canada, Inc. will function the staking service suppliers for each funds.
In accordance with the submitting, the sponsor itself won’t be entitled to any share of staking rewards past the administration price. For buyers, this construction means they stand to learn not solely from worth publicity to ETH and SOL but in addition from the continued yield generated by staking — a significant differentiator in a market the place most competing merchandise supply worth publicity alone.
Ethereum Staking: Queue and Timing Dangers Disclosed
The Ethereum submitting goes into appreciable operational element about staking mechanics, together with community constraints that have an effect on how rapidly belongings can start producing rewards.
Round 3.64 million ETH was within the queue to be activated on validators as of Could 18, 2026. Ethereum limits the variety of validators that may enter the staking queue to 56 per epoch, which interprets to roughly 57,600 ETH per day. Primarily based on these figures, Morgan Stanley estimated that newly staked Ether may face an activation delay of roughly 63 days earlier than turning into eligible to earn staking rewards.
The submitting additionally discloses slashing threat — a mechanism by which staked ETH may be faraway from a validator’s account if the community’s guidelines are violated or if a validator fails to carry out its duties. This can be a customary disclosure for any staking-enabled fund construction.
Solana Mechanics Differ Barely
The Solana submitting follows a broadly comparable framework however with just a few key distinctions. Not like the Ethereum submitting, the Solana modification doesn’t disclose any every day staking capability limits. Morgan Stanley additionally acknowledged that custodians concerned within the staking course of won’t management the personal keys related to delegated SOL belongings. This design alternative retains key custody separated from the staking perform, lowering a specific class of operational threat.
Broader Crypto ETF Panorama
Morgan Stanley’s filings come because the broader crypto ETF market continues to broaden quickly. The disclosures arrive as asset managers proceed working with U.S. regulators on fund buildings that mix direct cryptocurrency publicity with staking-based yield technology. The SEC not too long ago accredited BlackRock’s Bitcoin Premium Earnings ETF, which went reside on June 16, additional signaling the regulator’s rising openness to modern crypto fund buildings.
Morgan Stanley has additionally attracted consideration concerning a possible XRP ETF submitting, after the establishment not too long ago revealed holdings in present XRP ETFs, prompting market hypothesis a few forthcoming software. If accredited, the ETH and SOL merchandise would lengthen the financial institution’s presence throughout all three of the most important belongings with U.S. spot ETFs.
For now, the amended filings mark a significant checkpoint within the approval course of. With the bottom proposed charges in each markets, a staking yield part inbuilt from launch, and a Bitcoin ETF already demonstrating the financial institution’s capacity to draw institutional capital, Morgan Stanley is positioning itself as a severe long-term participant within the crypto ETF house — not merely a late entrant.
