Morgan Stanley is bringing institutional capital to Solana and Ethereum: trusts with zero staking fees have been launched.
A major Wall Street player is making a decisive move into altcoins. The investment arm of banking giant Morgan Stanley has officially launched two new exchange-traded products (ETPs) — the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (ticker: MSSE) and the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (ticker: MSOL). This is direct evidence that institutional appetite for digital assets is expanding beyond Bitcoin.
Product Terms and Structure
Both trusts have a uniform management fee of 0.14%. This is one of the lowest rates among similar products on the market, making them attractive to large, cost-sensitive investors. A key feature is that a portion of the funds' assets will be allocated to staking. Morgan Stanley does not retain the rewards received, passing them on in full to the trust holders.
This approach is a radical departure from the traditional model, where the management company keeps a share of the staking income. Morgan Stanley's decision makes these instruments "cleaner" in terms of investor returns and sets a precedent for other issuers.
Analysis: Why This Matters
The launch of products specifically on Ethereum and Solana is no coincidence. Ethereum remains the leading platform for DeFi and institutional tokenized assets, while Solana is experiencing explosive growth in fees and activity within the memecoin and DePIN sectors. Morgan Stanley is effectively legitimizing Solana as a class of institutional assets, which could trigger a wave of similar applications from competitors.
My professional opinion: While retail investors speculate about the halving date, smart money is already flowing into infrastructure assets with real yield. Solana is the main beneficiary here, as its economy is more "staking-oriented" than Ethereum's. If Morgan Stanley sees potential in SOL staking yields, it's a signal to the market: the era of "buy and forget" is giving way to the era of "buy and stake."