Morgan Stanley Files for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs

• Morgan Stanley filed SEC registrations for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs, moving from distributing crypto products to issuing its own funds.

• The Bitcoin trust will hold spot BTC, while the Solana trust includes staking rewards added to the fund’s net asset value.

• The move aligns Morgan Stanley with major issuers as U.S. spot crypto ETFs pass $123B in assets and adoption accelerates.

Morgan Stanley has filed registration statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch exchange-traded funds tracking Bitcoin and Solana. The filings, published on January 6, mark a significant step by the Wall Street firm into the crypto ETF space. The move comes as institutional and retail interest in digital assets accelerates nationwide.

Details of the Bitcoin and Solana Trusts

According to the SEC filings, Morgan Stanley plans a Bitcoin ETF named the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust. The fund will hold Bitcoin directly, without derivatives or leverage, calculating net asset value daily from major spot exchanges. Shares will be created or redeemed in large blocks by authorized participants, while retail investors can trade on the secondary market.

The Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, also submitted for SEC approval, will track Solana’s price and include a staking mechanism to accrue rewards into the fund’s net asset value. Both filings reflect the bank’s shift from distributing third-party crypto products to creating its own in-house offerings.

Market Context and Institutional Adoption

Eric Balchunas noted that Morgan Stanley’s $8 trillion in advisory assets allows it to offer its own branded crypto ETFs rather than paying competitors like BlackRock. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have now surpassed $123.5 billion in assets, representing roughly 6.6% of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization.

Cumulative trading volume across all U.S. spot crypto ETFs has exceeded $2 trillion, highlighting rapid adoption. Morgan Stanley’s filing follows the SEC’s September 2025 approval of generic listing standards for crypto ETFs.

These standards allow eligible funds to launch without lengthy individual 19b-4 filings, accelerating product availability. The bank has also expanded crypto access to all clients, including retirement accounts, and set a 4% allocation cap for opportunistic portfolios holding digital assets.

Strategic Implications for Morgan Stanley

The filings signal Morgan Stanley’s move to integrate crypto products into its wealth management business directly. By launching in-house Bitcoin and Solana ETFs, the firm can retain management fees internally and strengthen its advisory offerings.

This strategy positions Morgan Stanley alongside major issuers like BlackRock and Fidelity, reflecting growing institutional engagement with regulated crypto products.