On July 28, 2025, Morgan Stanley launched two new digital asset exchange-traded products on NYSE Arca: the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (MSSE) and the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (MSOL). Both have an expense ratio of 0.14%, the lowest for any ETH or SOL ETF. According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, this undercuts every other competitor.
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Cheapest ETH and SOL ETFs in the US
Before this, Grayscale's Mini Ethereum Trust held the lowest ETH ETF fee at 0.15%. Franklin Templeton's SOEZ was the cheapest SOL ETF at 0.19%. Morgan Stanley's 0.14% fee shaves off a basis point or five — not huge in absolute terms, but in a fee-sensitive market it signals a price war. The firm's Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), which debuted earlier in 2025 with a 0.14% fee, had already pulled in over $381 million in assets by July 16. That track record likely gave the team confidence to price the new products aggressively.
Staking rewards passed to shareholders
Both trusts stake a portion of their holdings and pass all staking rewards directly to shareholders. MSIM, the delegated sponsor, keeps none of it. The staking targets are 50-80% of ETH holdings and up to 100% of SOL holdings. Staking services come from Figment, Galaxy, and Coinbase Canada, with service fees capped at 5%. That means investors get yield on top of price exposure — a feature that's still rare in the ETF wrapper.
Regulatory safe harbor for staking ETPs
The IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-31 provides a safe harbor for staking ETPs. It requires a third-party custodian, an independent staking provider, and SEC approval of disclosures. Morgan Stanley's trusts meet all three conditions. That legal clarity matters: without it, staking inside an ETF could create tax headaches for the fund and its holders. The IRS move effectively greenlit the structure.
Morgan Stanley's growing digital asset suite
MSIM's ETF and ETP suite now includes 22 products, three of which are digital asset ETPs. Total AUM across the suite exceeds $14 billion. The Ethereum trust tracks the CoinDesk Ether Benchmark 4 PM NY Settlement Rate; the Solana trust tracks the CoinDesk Solana Benchmark at the same cutoff. Foreside Fund Services is the marketing agent. With the lowest fees and a staking yield, Morgan Stanley is betting that institutional investors want cheap, simple exposure to the two largest proof-of-stake networks — and that the IRS won't complicate it.
