Morgan Stanley Launches Spot Ether, Solana ETPs on NYSE Arca

Morgan Stanley Investment Management has launched two new spot exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the NYSE Arca, tracking the prices of ether and Solana. The Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust (MSSE) and the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust (MSOL) will stake a portion of their holdings, passing through staking rewards to investors without retaining any for themselves.

The launch marks a significant expansion of Morgan Stanley's crypto ETP franchise, which has grown to $14 billion in assets across 22 products. This includes the first cryptocurrency ETP from a U.S. bank-affiliated asset manager, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, which held over $381 million in assets through July 16.

The new trusts charge an expense ratio of 0.14% and track the CoinDesk Ether and Solana Benchmark 4PM NY Settlement Rates. This is lower than most established spot ether products, making them more competitive in the market.

Morgan Stanley's global head of ETFs, Ally Wallace, said that the addition of MSSE and MSOL reflects the natural evolution of their product suite, which seeks to provide simplified access to digital assets through the ETP wrapper. Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset strategy at Morgan Stanley, noted that client interest in digital assets continues to grow, and they are focused on providing a range of digital asset solutions.