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 payment construction and staking mechanism for each merchandise — and in doing so, place Morgan Stanley to supply the most affordable ETH and SOL ETFs at present obtainable in the US.
Second Modification Alerts SEC Progress
The filings symbolize the second amendments for each the ETH and SOL ETF purposes, which have been initially submitted in January. Whereas the SEC has not but authorised both fund, amended filings of this nature are extensively interpreted as an indication of lively, ongoing dialogue between an issuer and the regulator. Every revision usually displays responses to SEC suggestions and motion towards a last approval determination.
The Ethereum fund is predicted to commerce underneath the ticker image MSSE, and the Solana fund underneath 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 Under Each Current Competitor
The headline disclosure in Thursday’s filings is the payment construction. Each the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Belief and the Morgan Stanley Solana Belief would cost a 0.14% annual sponsor payment, calculated every day based mostly on every fund’s web asset worth and paid on a month-to-month foundation.
That payment undercuts each present ETH and SOL ETF at present available on the market. Grayscale’s Mini Ethereum Belief at present affords the bottom Ethereum ETF sponsor payment at 0.15%, whereas Franklin Templeton’s SOEZ expenses the bottom charge amongst Solana ETFs at 0.19%, based on knowledge from SoSoValue. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas weighed in on the event, noting that the 14 foundation level charge would make each funds “the most affordable 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 price, leaning on its massive wealth-management and advisory community to channel shopper belongings into its personal merchandise slightly than rivals’.
The payment 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 payment 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 is not going to be entitled to any share of staking rewards past the administration payment. For buyers, this construction means they stand to profit not solely from value 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 value 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 shortly 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. Based mostly 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 danger — a mechanism by which staked ETH might 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 normal disclosure for any staking-enabled fund construction.
Solana Mechanics Differ Barely
The Solana submitting follows a broadly related framework however with just a few key distinctions. In contrast to the Ethereum submitting, the Solana modification doesn’t disclose any every day staking capability limits. Morgan Stanley additionally said that custodians concerned within the staking course of is not going to management the non-public keys related to delegated SOL belongings. This design selection retains key custody separated from the staking perform, decreasing a specific class of operational danger.
Broader Crypto ETF Panorama
Morgan Stanley’s filings come because the broader crypto ETF market continues to develop quickly. The disclosures arrive as asset managers proceed working with U.S. regulators on fund constructions that mix direct cryptocurrency publicity with staking-based yield technology. The SEC just lately authorised BlackRock’s Bitcoin Premium Revenue ETF, which went reside on June 16, additional signaling the regulator’s rising openness to modern crypto fund constructions.
Morgan Stanley has additionally attracted consideration relating to a possible XRP ETF submitting, after the establishment just lately revealed holdings in present XRP ETFs, prompting market hypothesis a couple of forthcoming software. If authorised, the ETH and SOL merchandise would lengthen the financial institution’s presence throughout all three of the biggest 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 element 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 critical long-term participant within the crypto ETF house — not merely a late entrant.
