Morgan Stanley rolled out spot Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded products on Tuesday, each opening with 50,000 shares and roughly $1 million in seed capital. The trusts charge a 0.14% fee and stake the underlying tokens through a trio of providers — Figment, Galaxy Blockchain Infrastructure and Coinbase Canada — with custodians taking 5% of gross rewards while Morgan Stanley keeps none. The launch comes as both assets trade well below their all-time highs: Ether is 61% below its August 2025 peak, and Solana sits 75% under its January 2025 high.
Staking rewards and validator queues
The Solana trust, ticker MSOL, intends to stake up to 100% of its SOL. The Ethereum trust, MSSE, targets 50-80% of its ether and caps staking at 80%. That difference reflects the networks' validator dynamics. Ethereum's activation queue held roughly 2.71 million ether as of July 6, with an estimated 47-day wait. Solana's bonding process takes two to three days. Holders receive rewards as monthly cash distributions — quarterly at minimum — funded by selling tokens from the staking yield.
A bigger crypto bet
Morgan Stanley isn't new to digital assets. Its Bitcoin Trust attracted $34 million on debut and grew to $381 million by July 16 — 11x in 99 days. The firm also switched on spot crypto trading through E*TRADE this month. With roughly 16,000 advisers overseeing about $9.3 trillion, the new ETPs give a massive retail and wealth channel direct access to ether and Solana exposure wrapped in a familiar trust structure.
The price picture
Solana near $74 has slipped 3.8% since the prospectus priced it on July 8. Ether funds have absorbed lengthy ETF outflow streaks for much of 2026. The timing isn't ideal for a launch, but the staking yield — and the fact that Morgan Stanley retains none of it — could appeal to income-focused investors who've watched spot prices slide.
Adviser access
Morgan Stanley's 16,000 advisers can now offer these products to clients. The trusts trade on OTC markets, and the monthly cash distributions provide a steady income stream. Whether the staking rewards offset the price declines is an open question — but for now, the world's sixth-largest asset manager is betting that institutional demand for staked crypto exposure has room to grow.
