Morgan Stanley has launched spot Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded funds with a 0.14% sponsor fee, undercutting every competing U.S. spot product in the two categories and bringing staking rewards into both vehicles. The Ethereum fund trades under the ticker MSSE on the New York Stock Exchange, while the Solana fund trades as MSOL.
The fee places the new products below Grayscale’s Mini Ethereum Trust, which charges 0.15%, and Franklin Templeton’s Solana ETF, which charges 0.19%, according to data provider SoSoValue. Morgan Stanley said it also plans to stake part of each fund’s ETH and SOL holdings, allowing the funds to receive blockchain-native rewards alongside changes in the underlying token prices.
That combination makes cost the central competitive feature of the launch. A 0.14% annual fee translates to $14 for every $10,000 held over a year before any staking income or market gains and losses. For products designed to track highly liquid cryptoassets, fee differences of a few basis points can become decisive as issuers compete for long-term allocations and trading activity.
Staking adds a second source of fund returns
Morgan Stanley’s decision to stake a portion of the assets gives MSSE and MSOL a feature that goes beyond simple spot exposure. Staking involves committing tokens to help operate and secure proof-of-stake blockchains, in exchange for protocol rewards. Ethereum and Solana both use this model, though rewards can vary with network conditions, validator performance, token supply and the share of tokens being staked.
The firm did not provide a figure for the proportion of ETH and SOL that will be staked or specify the expected yield. The source material puts Ethereum staking yields near 3% annually, a level that could materially exceed the funds’ 0.14% sponsor charge if maintained. Fund-level returns would nevertheless depend on how staking proceeds are handled, operational costs and the price movements of ETH and SOL.
Staking has become a major dividing line in the market for crypto exchange-traded products. A spot fund without staking can track the price of a proof-of-stake token but leaves network rewards uncollected. A fund able to stake assets can potentially narrow that gap, though it also introduces operational choices around validator selection, custody, liquidity management and the time required to withdraw staked tokens.
Morgan Stanley enters a more crowded altcoin ETF field
The two launches arrive roughly two and a half years after BlackRock, Fidelity and other issuers brought the first U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETFs to market. The category has since expanded beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, with issuers introducing products linked to tokens including XRP and HYPE.
Morgan Stanley said its total ETF and exchange-traded product lineup has surpassed $14 billion in assets under management since it first introduced ETFs in 2023. The firm oversees more than $10 trillion in client assets globally, giving it a large distribution network as it attempts to gain ground in a U.S. spot crypto ETP market described in the source material as holding about $80 billion.
Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, said Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin-based ETF had accumulated about $400 million in assets under management after four months despite launching during a bearish market. That earlier fund offers a limited but relevant benchmark: Morgan Stanley has already attracted capital in the most established segment of the crypto ETF market, but Ethereum and Solana face a different competitive landscape with more emphasis on product structure, fees and staking.
The 0.14% charge could put pressure on issuers that have relied on slightly higher fees in Ethereum and Solana products. Lower pricing can be especially effective in an ETF market where underlying assets are broadly similar and many buyers use funds as long-term portfolio tools rather than as differentiated trading strategies.
Solana products have drawn most non-Bitcoin, non-Ethereum activity
Demand for products tied to newer blockchain networks has become increasingly concentrated in Solana. As of a week before the Morgan Stanley launch, Solana and Hyperliquid ETFs represented nearly 80% of trading volume among crypto ETFs excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to the source material. Solana ETFs had accumulated more than $900 million in assets under management.
Those figures place MSOL in a segment that has already shown deeper activity than other non-Bitcoin crypto products. Solana’s appeal for issuers has been tied to its established token liquidity, a large on-chain application ecosystem and the availability of staking rewards. The trade-off is that SOL has historically experienced sharper price swings than Bitcoin and Ethereum, meaning a lower management fee does little to reduce the underlying asset’s volatility.
The source material also says trackers linked to newer, faster networks have recorded $1.14 billion in net inflows. Such flows indicate that regulated wrappers are broadening access to assets beyond the two largest cryptocurrencies, though asset gathering and daily trading volume can shift quickly when token prices reverse.
Morgan Stanley’s launch extends the fee battle from Bitcoin into the staking-enabled ETF market. MSSE and MSOL will now need to show whether their low expense ratio and planned staking program can convert a pricing advantage into sustained assets and liquidity against issuers that entered the Ethereum and Solana categories earlier.
Curious how Solana ETFs work under the hood? Deepen your understanding with our guide here before you invest.
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