Morgan Stanley filed amended S-1 registration statements with the SEC on June 18, 2026, for two planned spot crypto ETFs, a spot Ethereum ETF and a spot Solana ETF, both carrying a 0.14% annual unitary sponsor fee, the lowest in the US market for either asset class, according to the filings.<\/p>\n
The central question the filing raises is: does a fee this low, paired with a 95% staking reward pass-through, effectively end the crypto ETF fee war before rivals have a chance to respond?<\/p>\n
With Morgan Stanley getting closer to approval for its spot ETH and SOL ETFs, the total crypto market cap dropped by -2.4% overnight, falling to $2.23 trillion after being over $2.5 trillion less than two weeks ago.<\/p>\n\n
The two products are proposed under ticker symbols MSSE for the Ethereum ETF and MSOL for the Solana ETF, both targeting a listing on NYSE Arca.<\/p>\n
The 0.14% fee is structured as a single charge; it accrues daily on net asset value and is paid monthly in cash, with Morgan Stanley Investment Management absorbing most ordinary fund operating expenses from that single fee rather than stacking additional charges on top of it.<\/p>\n
The staking mechanics are equally notable. A portion of each fund\u2019s ETH and SOL holdings will be staked via three named providers: Figment, Galaxy Infrastructure LLC, and Coinbase Canada.<\/p>\n
Of all staking rewards generated, 95% flows directly back into the trust, boosting net asset value for shareholders, while only 5% is paid to those staking service providers. Morgan Stanley, as sponsor, collects no additional cut of staking income beyond its 0.14% management fee.<\/p>\n
These are the second round of amendments for both filings, which were originally submitted in January 2026. The June 18 SEC filing marks the first time a specific fee was confirmed for either product; prior amendments in March and May added structural details like the proposed MSOL ticker and the staking component, but left the fee blank.<\/p>\n
Morgan Stanley Ether and Solana ETFs nearing launch. The fee on each is going to be 14bps making them the cheapest in U.S. and world. https:\/\/t.co\/8pLJIj8DI7<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n DISCOVER:\u00a0Best Meme Coin ICOs to Invest in 2026<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Context matters here. Existing US spot Ethereum ETF products from issuers including BlackRock and Fidelity have generally proposed fees in the 0.20\u20130.30% range.<\/p>\n On the Solana side, Franklin Templeton\u2019s SOEZ \u2013 one of the further-along Solana ETF filings \u2013 sits at 0.19%. Morgan Stanley\u2019s 0.14% undercuts both benchmarks by a meaningful margin at this fee level.<\/p>\n The Bitcoin ETF fee war of 2024 saw BlackRock\u2019s IBIT (0.25%) and Grayscale\u2019s Bitcoin Mini Trust (0.15%) engage in rounds of cuts and temporary waivers to capture assets under management.<\/p>\n BlackRock has since added yield-bearing structures to its Bitcoin ETF lineup<\/a> to compete on more than fees alone. Morgan Stanley is running a different play: enter at the fee floor from day one and add staking yield on top, making the all-in cost case harder to beat.<\/p>\n In a separate amended S-1 for its proposed Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, the bank also set a 0.14% fee, which would undercut both Grayscale\u2019s Bitcoin Mini Trust and BlackRock\u2019s IBIT if approved.<\/p>\n That product launched in April 2026, making the ETH and SOL filings the next phase of what amounts to a coordinated, low-cost, multi-asset ETF stack. The SEC approval process for similar institutional products has been progressing, as\u00a0evidenced by\u00a0recent approvals of crypto ETFs<\/a><\/span>\u00a0for institutional issuers<\/a>.<\/p>\nHow This Reshapes the Crypto ETF Fee War<\/h2>\n