Morgan Stanley has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch two new cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, marking another step by a major Wall Street institution into regulated digital asset products.
The filings, submitted on Tuesday, outline plans for a Bitcoin Trust and a Solana Trust, both structured as passive investment vehicles designed to track the price performance of their respective tokens.
According to the S-1 registration statements, the proposed Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust will hold the underlying digital assets directly and aim to mirror their market value, adjusted for expenses and liabilities.
The funds are not intended to engage in active trading strategies, leverage, or derivatives. Instead, they are designed to provide investors with straightforward exposure to crypto assets through familiar exchange-listed products.
The Solana-focused product offers additional detail in the filing. The Morgan Stanley Solana Trust is structured as an exchange-traded fund that will track the price of Solana (SOL) based on a pricing benchmark derived from major trading venues.
In addition to price tracking, the fund plans to stake a portion of its SOL holdings through third-party staking service providers, allowing it to generate staking rewards that would be reflected in returns and potentially distributed to shareholders on a quarterly basis, subject to U.S. tax guidance.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. is listed as the sponsor of the trusts, with custodial and trustee arrangements to be finalized in later filings.
While the S-1 documents confirm the intent to list the shares on a public exchange, the specific venue is expected to be disclosed in subsequent 19b-4 filings, which are required for exchange approval.
The move comes as traditional asset managers continue to expand beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum into a broader range of blockchain networks.
Following the approval and success of spot crypto ETFs in the U.S., firms are increasingly exploring products tied to alternative layer-1 tokens that offer yield features such as staking.
If approved, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin and Solana trusts would further legitimize crypto exposure within traditional portfolios, offering institutional and retail investors regulated access to digital assets without the need for direct custody or onchain management.