Morgan Stanley Files for Spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs; SOL Staking Included
Morgan Stanley files S-1s for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs, with the latter offering staking rewards, as spot Bitcoin ETFs see nearly $700M in daily inflows.
The Wealth Giant Enters the Arena
Morgan Stanley has officially filed S-1 registration statements with the SEC to launch spot Bitcoin and Solana exchange-traded funds, a move that places the $1.6 trillion wealth manager in direct competition with BlackRock and Fidelity. The bank’s entry marks a pivotal escalation in Wall Street’s crypto adoption, moving from mere access to active product issuance.
The filings reveal a critical differentiator: while the Bitcoin Trust will operate as a standard passive vehicle, the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust intends to stake a portion of its holdings. Rewards will accrue to the fund’s Net Asset Value (NAV), a structural advantage that could force incumbent issuers to re-architect their own Solana offerings to compete on yield.
Institutional Capital Floods Back
The timing aligns with a resurgence in institutional appetite. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $697.2 million in net inflows on Monday, the highest single-day volume since October 7. The surge was led by BlackRock’s IBIT, which absorbed $372 million, pushing its cumulative historical inflows past the $62.7 billion mark.
The spot Bitcoin ETF market has grown rapidly since the SEC approved these products two years ago. Morgan Stanley’s entry marks another major Wall Street player moving deeper into crypto.
Bitcoin reacted to the liquidity injection by reclaiming the $94,000 level, signaling that the smart money bid is back after a quiet December. With Morgan Stanley’s massive distribution network now incentivized to sell its own proprietary crypto products, the battle for fee-generating assets has officially entered its next phase.
