Morgan Stanley started trading spot Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded products on NYSE Arca on Tuesday, charging a 0.14% fee — the lowest on the market. Both funds plan to stake a portion of their holdings and pass any staking rewards to investors rather than keep them. The launch extends a digital asset lineup that opened with a spot bitcoin fund holding more than $381 million.
Morgan Stanley priced its two newest crypto funds at a 0.14% expense ratio, the lowest on the market. The firm announced Tuesday that the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (MSSE) and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (MSOL) would begin trading on NYSE Arca, broadening its digital asset lineup beyond bitcoin.
Lowest fee on the market, with staking rewards passed on
Both products plan to stake a portion of their ether or SOL holdings, with any rewards passed through to investors rather than kept by Morgan Stanley. The two funds track the CoinDesk Ether Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate and the CoinDesk Solana Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rate, so investors get exposure without holding the tokens directly.
That fee undercuts the competition: Grayscale's Mini Ethereum Trust charges 0.15% and Franklin Templeton's Solana ETF 0.19%, according to SoSoValue data. Solana is emerging as the next area of competition, with SoSoValue listing eight SOL exchange-traded funds with total net assets of $889.3 million.
Bitcoin fund reached $381 million before the expansion
Tuesday's launch builds on the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), which debuted earlier this year and had gathered more than $381 million in assets under management through July 16.
Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset strategy at Morgan Stanley, said in a press release: "Digital assets are becoming an increasingly important component of diversified investment portfolios"
Ally Wallace, the firm's Global Head of ETFs, said its suite of ETFs and ETPs now exceeds $14 billion in assets under management. The two crypto ETFs are also the first issued by a U.S. bank-affiliated asset manager. NYSE Arca approved the two funds for listing last week.
Morgan Stanley leans on 16,000 advisors and E*TRADE
The firm also enters the market with a built-in distribution advantage. Its wealth management business includes roughly 16,000 financial advisors overseeing more than $9 trillion in client assets, while its ownership of E*TRADE gives it a direct line to millions of self-directed investors.
Sources: Morgan Stanley Investment Management, CoinDesk, The Block, CoinGape
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
