NEW YORK, January 7, 2026, 12:39 (EST)
- Morgan Stanley’s asset manager filed to launch bitcoin and solana exchange-traded products, pending SEC approval
- Filings show the Solana vehicle would also seek to reflect staking rewards
- Bitcoin traded around $91,531 and solana near $136 in midday New York trade
Morgan Stanley Investment Management has filed initial registration statements for two crypto-linked exchange-traded products — the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust and the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust — and said the securities cannot be sold until the filings become effective. 1
The move would be the first attempt by a major U.S. bank to bring in-house crypto ETFs to market at a time when Washington’s stance has turned more permissive and traditional finance firms are looking for cleaner ways to package exposure. “It’s interesting to see Morgan Stanley move into a commoditized market,” said Bryan Armour, an ETF analyst at Morningstar, adding he suspects the bank wants to steer existing clients into its own funds. 2
An exchange-traded fund, or ETF, trades like a stock and lets investors buy exposure without holding the asset directly. Bitcoin was down about 1.1% at $91,531, while solana slipped to about $136; ether fell to roughly $3,163.
The bitcoin filing describes a passive vehicle designed to track the price of bitcoin and says it will not use leverage or derivatives. The solana trust sets a similar goal for SOL, but also says it would seek to reflect rewards from “staking” — locking tokens to help run a blockchain network in exchange for payouts — and would distribute staking rewards at least quarterly in certain circumstances. 3
Morgan Stanley is arriving late to a crowded field: more than 100 crypto ETFs already trade in the United States, and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has grown into one of the largest, with about $73 billion in assets, Barron’s reported. T. Rowe Price filed for its first crypto ETF last year, according to an earlier Reuters report. 4
Some market watchers see the filing as less about a new bet on tokens and more about keeping fee income in-house. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called the move a “shocker” in a LinkedIn post and argued Morgan Stanley would rather “collect fees” than route client flows to rivals’ funds. 5
The filing lands as crypto-linked public companies are still fighting for a place in mainstream benchmarks. MSCI this week shelved a plan that could have pushed “digital asset treasury companies” — firms that hold crypto as a large share of assets, such as Strategy — out of its indexes; “it removes a material near-term technical risk,” Clear Street analyst Owen Lau said. 6
There are risks. The SEC can still slow, reshape or reject the products, and crypto’s price swings can turn a simple “track the token” promise into a rough ride for retail holders. Staking, in particular, sits at the intersection of custody, tax treatment and regulation — areas that change faster than fund prospectuses.
