Summary
Morgan Stanley has gained approval to list and trade its spot Ethereum and Solana staking ETFs on NYSE Arca, according to the latest SEC filings. The Ethereum ETF will list under ticker MSSE and the Solana ETF under MSOL, after the issuer submitted 8-A and 424B3 filings that became auto-effective pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act. The approvals move the products from paperwork (filed July 22) to listing readiness.
The spot Ethereum ETF will levy a 0.14% sponsor fee and plans to stake 50–80% of holdings via providers such as Figment, Galaxy Blockchain and Coinbase Canada. Staking service providers and custodians receive only 5% of staking rewards, and Morgan Stanley Investment Management (the delegated sponsor) will not receive or retain the remaining rewards — resulting in higher earnings for investors. The Bank of New York Mellon and Coinbase Custody serve as custodians.
The Solana ETF carries a 0.14% management fee and plans to stake up to 100% of SOL holdings through Figment, Galaxy Blockchain and Coinbase Canada, with the same reward distribution mechanism. The approvals coincide with Morgan Stanley's brokerage arm E*TRADE completing the rollout of spot Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana trading for clients (via a linked Zerohash account). The firm's existing Bitcoin ETF (MSBT) holds over $391M in total assets.
Key Facts
- NYSE Arca approved listing/trading of Morgan Stanley spot Ethereum ETF (MSSE) and Solana ETF (MSOL).
- 8-A and 424B3 filings submitted; auto-effective under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act (pending CERT filing for trading date).
- Ethereum ETF: 0.14% sponsor fee; plans to stake 50–80% of holdings (Figment, Galaxy Blockchain, Coinbase Canada).
- Staking service providers/custodians receive only 5% of staking rewards; Morgan Stanley IM retains none of the remainder → higher investor earnings.
- Custodians: BNY Mellon and Coinbase Custody.
- Solana ETF: 0.14% management fee; plans to stake up to 100% of SOL holdings (same provider set and reward mechanism).
- Coincides with E*TRADE completing spot BTC/ETH/SOL trading rollout (linked Zerohash account).
- Existing Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF (MSBT): $391M+ total assets, ~$396M BTC holdings; $5M inflows latest session vs $255.18M spot Bitcoin ETF outflows industry-wide.
Why It Matters
The approvals convert Morgan Stanley's staking-ETF filings from a roadmap into tradable products, making it the most concrete institutional instantiation of on-chain staking yield inside a regulated ETF wrapper. The structural detail — sponsor retaining none of the staking rewards after the 5% provider/custodian cut — is unusually investor-friendly and sets a benchmark that will pressure every other issuer's reward-pass-through economics.
The simultaneous E*TRADE spot-crypto rollout signals a coordinated two-track strategy: institutional ETFs for the advisor and allocators channel, plus direct spot trading for the retail brokerage channel. Together they position Morgan Stanley as one of the most fully integrated mainstream crypto-asset platforms among Wall Street incumbents, and they accelerate the institutional normalization of Solana (not just Bitcoin and Ethereum) as a yield-bearing, ETF-eligible asset class.