Morgan Stanley Aims for Lowest Fees with New Ether and Solana ETFs
Quick Look
- Morgan Stanley has updated its filings for its Ether and Solana ETFs, proposing fees of 0.14%, aiming to be the lowest in the US market.
- This move follows their competitive fee strategy for their Bitcoin ETF.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Morgan Stanley is entering the competitive spot crypto ETF market with a strategy of offering the lowest fees, following success with its Bitcoin ETF.
Morgan Stanley has updated its filings for its Ether and Solana exchange-traded funds, revealing that it plans to charge the lowest fees among its rivals.
The company filed amended Form S-1 statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission for each ETF on Thursday, showing it plans to undercut the current market offerings and charge fees of 0.14% for each of its products.
The current lowest-fee spot Ether (ETH) ETF in the US is the Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF (ETH) at 0.15%, while Franklin Templeton’s spot Solana (SOL) ETF, the Franklin Solana ETF (SOEZ), charges the lowest fee among its competitors at 0.19%, according to Farside Investors.
It is the second time that Morgan Stanley has updated its ETF filings since it first filed for the ETFs in January, with amendments typically a signal that the SEC is close to approving the products for trading, which would make them the 11th spot Ether ETF and seventh spot Solana ETF to launch in the US.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas posted to X on Friday that the fees make them “the cheapest in [the] US and [the] world.”
Source: Eric Balchunas
Low fees have been a tactic for Morgan Stanley as it looks to make a late entry into the spot crypto ETF market dominated by issuers such as BlackRock and Fidelity. Its Bitcoin (BTC) ETF, which launched in April, set its fees at 0.14%, below Grayscale’s 0.15% fee on its mini Bitcoin ETF.
Related: Grayscale HYPE ETF ‘likely imminent’ as new update shows competitive fee: Analyst
That fee likely helped Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin fund to record a respectable first-day inflow of $30.6 million. The ETF has since seen total inflows of $331 million, surpassing ETFs from Invesco, Franklin Templeton and CoinShares, which all launched in January 2024.
Morgan Stanley’s latest filings also show that Figment, Galaxy Blockchain Infrastructure and Coinbase Canada will provide the staking services for each of the ETFs, with each fund having a 5% staking fee for the rewards earned by the product.
The Ethereum ETF, called the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust, will feature the ticker “MSSE,” while the Solana ETF, dubbed the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, will trade under MSOL.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
SEC approval for Morgan Stanley's Ether and Solana ETFs.
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Will SEC approval be swift?
- How will competitors react to the fee cuts?
