Morgan Stanley has launched new exchange-traded products tracking Ethereum and Solana on NYSE Arca, widening its crypto lineup beyond Bitcoin. These trusts don’t just hold the assets they actively stake them, passing staking rewards directly to investors. This approach captures more value from the proof-of-stake blockchain models, creating more than just price exposure for institutional clients.
The new Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (MSSE) and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (MSOL) join the firm's existing Bitcoin trust, covering three of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. Both come with an annual expense ratio of 0.14%, competitive within the institutional crypto investment space. Ethereum leads in tokenized assets and decentralized finance, while Solana shines with fast payments and consumer apps. Together, they diversify investment opportunities across different blockchain use cases and economic models, moving beyond simple store-of-value narratives.
What sets these products apart is the staking integration Morgan Stanley plans to stake a portion of the Ether and Solana held in the trusts. The resulting rewards stay in the trusts, benefiting investors directly rather than the asset manager. This matters because staking supports network transaction validation and generates additional protocol rewards, offering extra return streams alongside market price shifts. Institutional investors gain exposure to staking without the hassle of managing wallets or running validator nodes.
This move aligns with rising institutional appetite for more sophisticated crypto offerings and reflects a shift toward diversified digital asset strategies. Morgan Stanley also recently made news as Multicoin Capital moved significant tokens to Coinbase, signaling evolving market dynamics around crypto custody and liquidity.
Material is informational and not financial advice.
