Morgan Stanley Drops Price Barrier with Cheapest Ethereum and Solana ETFs

Morgan Stanley has entered the cryptocurrency market with two new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Ethereum and Solana. The Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (MSSE) and the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (MSOL) have begun trading on NYSE Arca on July 28, offering investors a way to gain exposure to these popular cryptocurrencies.

The ETFs come with an impressive price point of just 0.14% expense ratio, making them the cheapest ETH and SOL funds in the US. This is significantly lower than Grayscale's Mini Ethereum Trust, which had previously held the low mark at 0.15%, and Franklin Templeton's SOEZ, the previous cheapest SOL fund at 0.19%. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that these prices make the two funds 'the cheapest in the U.S. and world.'

Both trusts stake a share of their holdings and return the rewards to shareholders, with staking targets ranging from 50% to 80% for ETH and up to 100% for SOL. The Treasury and IRS have published guidelines allowing exchange-traded products to stake single proof-of-stake assets without separate tax charges.

The launches follow Morgan Stanley's first crypto ETP, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), which was introduced earlier this year with $34 million in first-day volume. MSBT currently holds over $381 million in assets under management and also carries a 0.14% fee.