Morgan Stanley cuts Ethereum, Solana ETF fees ahead of potential U.S. launch

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Morgan Stanley ETF fee cuts

Highlights

Morgan Stanley set a 0.14% fee for its proposed Ether and Solana ETFs, undercutting Grayscale's 0.15% and Franklin Templeton's 0.19% fees.
The Form S-1 amendments signal potential imminent SEC approval, positioning these products as the 11th spot Ether ETF and seventh spot Solana ETF in the U.S.
Both ETFs will use Figment, Galaxy Blockchain Infrastructure, and Coinbase Canada for staking with a 5% staking fee on rewards, and aim to capture market share from incumbents like BlackRock and Fidelity.

Updated filings set new fee benchmark

Morgan Stanley disclosed in amended Form S-1 filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that it plans to charge a 0.14% fee for each of its proposed Ether and Solana ETFs.

That pricing undercuts the lowest-fee spot Ether ETF currently on the market, Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF at 0.15%, and Franklin Templeton's Franklin Solana ETF at 0.19%, according to Farside Investors. The filings mark the second update since Morgan Stanley first submitted the products in January, and such amendments are typically viewed as a sign the SEC may be nearing a decision on trading approval.

If approved, the products would become the 11th spot Ether ETF and the seventh spot Solana ETF to launch in the U.S. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on X on Friday that the proposed charges make the funds "the cheapest in [the] U.S. and [the] world."

Late-entry strategy targets crypto ETF market share

Low fees are part of Morgan Stanley's strategy as it seeks to gain ground in a spot crypto ETF market led by issuers including BlackRock and Fidelity.

The firm's Bitcoin ETF, launched in April with a 0.14% fee, was also priced below Grayscale's 0.15% fee on its mini Bitcoin ETF. That pricing helped the fund draw $30.6 million in first-day inflows, and total inflows have since reached $331 million, ahead of ETFs from Invesco, Franklin Templeton and CoinShares that launched in January 2024.

The latest filings also show that Figment, Galaxy Blockchain Infrastructure and Coinbase Canada will provide staking services for the two new funds, with each ETF applying a 5% staking fee on rewards earned. The Ethereum product is set to trade as Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust under ticker MSSE, while the Solana product, Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, is set to trade under MSOL.

In our earlier article on the widening partisan split in U.S. crypto adoption, we noted that Republicans have increasingly outpaced Democrats in holding, trading, or using digital assets. The data pointed to a growing gap since 2021, with analysts linking the trend to policy preferences such as deregulation and to Donald Trump’s more pro-crypto positioning—factors that help frame the broader environment in which crypto-related products gain traction.

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