Morgan Stanley has filed amended applications with the Securities and Exchange Commission for spot Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded funds, positioning the products with fees among the lowest in the industry. The filings, made public this week, signal the bank's aggressive push into digital assets and set the stage for a pricing war that could upend existing fee structures across the crypto ETF space.
Amended applications go public
The updated filings tweak the prospectuses for the proposed ETFs, with the key change being a rock-bottom fee that undercuts most existing crypto ETFs. The exact fee was not disclosed in the filing, but industry sources familiar with the documents describe it as “aggressively low” — likely below the 0.20% charged by some of the cheapest Bitcoin ETFs currently trading. Morgan Stanley is seeking to launch both a spot Ethereum ETF and a spot Solana ETF, marking one of the first major bids for a Solana-based spot product from a traditional Wall Street bank.
A pricing strategy to watch
Low fees have become a central battleground in the ETF industry, and Morgan Stanley's move could force rival issuers to slash their own expense ratios. The bank appears willing to accept thin margins in exchange for capturing market share early. “If these fees stick, it changes the math for everyone,” one ETF analyst noted in a research note Monday. The filings come as crypto ETF competition heats up, with issuers like BlackRock and Fidelity already cutting fees on their Bitcoin products this year.
Solana gets a spot ETF bid
The Solana ETF is particularly noteworthy. While Ethereum-based funds have seen growing interest, few major firms have filed for a Solana spot product. Morgan Stanley's application suggests the bank sees institutional demand for exposure to the Solana ecosystem beyond futures-based products. The SEC has not yet approved a spot Solana ETF, and the regulator's stance on Solana's classification remains a wildcard.
What the market is watching
Investors are betting that cheaper fees will widen access to crypto ETFs, particularly among fee-sensitive advisors and retirement accounts. If approved, these products could pull in significant flows, reshaping how institutions allocate to digital assets. The SEC's decision timeline is unclear, but the filing puts pressure on the regulator to respond. The crypto ETF fee race just got a new leader — and everyone else has to react.
