Morgan Stanley has taken another step toward launching its spot Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded funds, filing second-amended S-1 registration statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The updated filings introduce a detailed fee structure and staking mechanism for both products — and in doing so, position Morgan Stanley to offer the cheapest ETH and SOL ETFs currently available in the United States.
Second Amendment Signals SEC Progress
The filings represent the second amendments for both the ETH and SOL ETF applications, which were originally submitted in January. While the SEC has not yet approved either fund, amended filings of this nature are widely interpreted as a sign of active, ongoing dialogue between an issuer and the regulator. Each revision typically reflects responses to SEC feedback and movement toward a final approval decision.
The Ethereum fund is expected to trade under the ticker symbol MSSE, and the Solana fund under MSOL. No firm launch dates have been announced, as those remain contingent on SEC clearance.
Morgan Stanley Files Low Fee Ethereum, Solana ETFs
Fees Set Below Every Existing Competitor
The headline disclosure in Thursday’s filings is the fee structure. Both the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust and the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust would charge a 0.14% annual sponsor fee, calculated daily based on each fund’s net asset value and paid on a monthly basis.
That fee undercuts every existing ETH and SOL ETF currently on the market. Grayscale’s Mini Ethereum Trust currently offers the lowest Ethereum ETF sponsor fee at 0.15%, while Franklin Templeton’s SOEZ charges the lowest rate among Solana ETFs at 0.19%, according to data from SoSoValue. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas weighed in on the development, noting that the 14 basis point rate would make both funds “the cheapest in the U.S. and world.”
Applying the same rock-bottom pricing to both Ether and Solana suggests Morgan Stanley intends to compete primarily on cost, leaning on its large wealth-management and advisory network to channel client assets into its own products rather than rivals’.
The fee strategy mirrors the approach the bank used to break into the Bitcoin ETF market. Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) launched in April, benefiting from its 0.14% sponsor fee that undercut established spot Bitcoin funds. As of June 18, MSBT has drawn in $300.7 million in cumulative net inflows.
Staking Baked Into Both Funds
Beyond the fees, the amendments introduce staking functionality to both products — a feature that could give Morgan Stanley’s ETFs a meaningful yield advantage over funds that hold crypto without putting it to work.
The proposed structure would keep 95% of staking rewards inside the trusts, with 5% paid to staking service providers and custodians as compensation. Figment Inc., Galaxy Blockchain Infrastructure LLC, and Coinbase Canada, Inc. will serve as the staking service providers for both funds.
According to the filing, the sponsor itself will not be entitled to any share of staking rewards beyond the management fee. For investors, this structure means they stand to benefit not only from price exposure to ETH and SOL but also from the ongoing yield generated by staking — a meaningful differentiator in a market where most competing products offer price exposure alone.
Ethereum Staking: Queue and Timing Risks Disclosed
The Ethereum filing goes into considerable operational detail about staking mechanics, including network constraints that affect how quickly assets can begin generating rewards.
Around 3.64 million ETH was in the queue to be activated on validators as of May 18, 2026. Ethereum limits the number of validators that can enter the staking queue to 56 per epoch, which translates to approximately 57,600 ETH per day. Based on those figures, Morgan Stanley estimated that newly staked Ether could face an activation delay of approximately 63 days before becoming eligible to earn staking rewards.
The filing also discloses slashing risk — a mechanism by which staked ETH can be removed from a validator’s account if the network’s rules are violated or if a validator fails to perform its duties. This is a standard disclosure for any staking-enabled fund structure.
Solana Mechanics Differ Slightly
The Solana filing follows a broadly similar framework but with a few key distinctions. Unlike the Ethereum filing, the Solana amendment does not disclose any daily staking capacity limits. Morgan Stanley also stated that custodians involved in the staking process will not control the private keys associated with delegated SOL assets. This design choice keeps key custody separated from the staking function, reducing a particular category of operational risk.
Broader Crypto ETF Landscape
Morgan Stanley’s filings come as the broader crypto ETF market continues to expand rapidly. The disclosures arrive as asset managers continue working with U.S. regulators on fund structures that combine direct cryptocurrency exposure with staking-based yield generation. The SEC recently approved BlackRock’s Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, which went live on June 16, further signaling the regulator’s growing openness to innovative crypto fund structures.
Morgan Stanley has also attracted attention regarding a potential XRP ETF filing, after the institution recently revealed holdings in existing XRP ETFs, prompting market speculation about a forthcoming application. If approved, the ETH and SOL products would extend the bank’s presence across all three of the largest assets with U.S. spot ETFs.
For now, the amended filings mark a meaningful checkpoint in the approval process. With the lowest proposed fees in both markets, a staking yield component built in from launch, and a Bitcoin ETF already demonstrating the bank’s ability to attract institutional capital, Morgan Stanley is positioning itself as a serious long-term player in the crypto ETF space — not merely a late entrant.
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