Morgan Stanley Enters Spot Altcoin Market with Competitive ETH and SOL ETFs

Morgan Stanley launched two new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on July 28, tied to Ethereum and Solana. The funds, MSSE for Ethereum and MSOL for Solana, provide investors with price exposure to these assets without requiring them to hold the tokens directly.

The annual sponsor fee for both ETFs is 0.14%, which is lower than some of their competitors. For example, Grayscale's Mini Ethereum Trust charges a 0.15% fee and Franklin Templeton's Solana ETF charges 0.19%. Morgan Stanley said it will stake a share of each fund's holdings and pass through any rewards generated from staking to investors.

The launch marks the firm's entry into the spot altcoin ETF market, which has been growing in popularity. The Ethereum fund accumulated more than $381 million in assets under management by July 16, according to Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas. Morgan Stanley's total ETF and exchange-traded product (ETP) suite now holds over $14 billion in assets.

Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset strategy at Morgan Stanley, said the firm is focused on offering products that allow investors to diversify across traditional and decentralized asset classes. With its wealth management division overseeing more than $9 trillion in client assets, Morgan Stanley has a significant distribution reach for these new funds.