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Morgan Stanley filed amended S-1s on Thursday for its spot Ethereum and Solana ETFs, disclosing a 0.14% sponsor fee that would be the lowest in both U.S. markets. The funds — expected to trade as MSSE (ETH) and MSOL (SOL) — name Figment Inc., Galaxy Blockchain Infrastructure LLC, and Coinbase Canada as staking service providers, with a 5% carve-out of staking rewards allocated to providers and custodians.
The fee lands below Grayscale's 0.15% Mini Ethereum Trust and Franklin Templeton's 0.19% SOEZ, the current floor in each respective market per SoSoValue data. The amendments are the second filings on each application since the originals were submitted in January, and additional S-1 amendments typically signal active SEC dialogue — the same pattern that preceded the April launch of Morgan Stanley's spot bitcoin fund.
Why it matters
Morgan Stanley's spot bitcoin ETF, MSBT, launched in April at the same 0.14% fee and pulled $300.7 million in cumulative net inflows through June 18 — a fast ramp from a single Wall Street sponsor in a market that had already been written off as saturated. Replicating that playbook on ETH and SOL is structurally significant: it brings a top-tier registered investment adviser's distribution channel into the two largest non-bitcoin spot products at sub-cost pricing, and it does so with staking built into the wrapper itself.
The staking piece is the part competitors do not yet have. None of the U.S. spot ETH ETFs currently stake their holdings, so any yield the underlying asset generates is forfeited inside the wrapper. If MSSE launches with staking enabled, the headline fee comparison understates the real cost gap: a 0.14% sponsor fee on a staking-bearing ETH product competes against 0.15%-plus on a non-staking product, with the staking rewards accruing to fund holders.
Market impact
The fee undercut forces a recalibration across the existing issuer set. Grayscale's Mini Trust, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, and Bitwise have all been operating at 0.15%-0.25% on the assumption that scale, not price, wins wallet share; a Morgan Stanley product priced below them — and distributed through one of the largest U.S.
Frequently asked questions
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What sponsor fee did Morgan Stanley disclose for its ETH and Solana ETFs?
Both funds disclosed a 0.14% sponsor fee in amended S-1 filings on Thursday — below Grayscale's 0.15% Mini Ethereum Trust and Franklin Templeton's 0.19% SOEZ, currently the lowest in each respective U.S. market.
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Which staking providers will serve the Morgan Stanley ETH and SOL ETFs?
Figment Inc., Galaxy Blockchain Infrastructure LLC, and Coinbase Canada, Inc. are named as staking service providers in the amended filings, with a 5% allocation of staking rewards going to providers and custodians.
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What tickers will Morgan Stanley's spot ETH and SOL ETFs trade under?
The Ethereum fund is expected to trade under the ticker MSSE, and the Solana fund under MSOL, per the amended S-1 registration statements.
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How did Morgan Stanley's spot bitcoin ETF perform after launch?
Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) launched in April at the same 0.14% sponsor fee and has accumulated $300.7 million in cumulative net inflows as of June 18, despite entering a market already populated by incumbents.
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Why is the staking feature in Morgan Stanley's ETH and SOL ETFs significant?
No currently approved U.S. spot ETH ETF stakes its holdings, meaning any yield the underlying asset earns is forfeited inside the wrapper. A Morgan Stanley product staking a portion of held ETH or SOL would create a structural cost advantage that a simple fee comparison does not capture.
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