In brief
- Morgan Stanley submitted S-1 forms for spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs pending regulatory approval.
- The funds will be passive investment vehicles tracking cryptocurrency prices without yet naming custodians or fees.
- Bitcoin ETFs now hold $119 billion in assets, while Solana ETFs have emerged as a newer investment category since October.
Wall Street titan Morgan Stanley submitted registrations for spot Bitcoin and Solana exchange-traded products early Tuesday morning.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin had gained nearly 1% in the past day and was changing hands for $94,187. Meanwhile, Solana had bumped up nearly 6% to trade for about $143.
“Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust are pending regulatory approval and would be passive investment vehicles that seek to track the performance of the price of the relevant cryptocurrency,” the bank wrote in a press release.
The S-1 forms don’t yet list custodians or crypto counterparties, who the bank says will manage the U.S. dollar-to-BTC and -SOL conversions on its behalf. The bank didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.
The registration form describes the funds’ fee structures, but doesn’t yet specify what those fees will be. Unlike some of its competitors, the Morgan Stanley fund is making use of the bank’s name without relying on a joint venture or white-label sponsor.
For example, the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF is a joint venture that uses Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest investment firm for distribution, branding, and portfolio strategy, and 21Shares for the crypto infrastructure.
Bitcoin ETFs first began trading in January 2024. In the past couple days, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has seen its biggest inflows in the past three months as the price of Bitcoin surged from its holiday lull. Analysts have credited that to Bitcoin portfolio rebalancing while institutional investors priced in three more years of Trump’s “America First” policy.
Bitcoin ETFs have grown to account for $119 billion worth of assets under management, with BlackRock’s IBIT accounting for $72.8 billion worth of holdings.
Solana ETFs are a newer cohort, after the Bitwise’s Solana ETF hit U.S. exchanges in October 2025. It’s since been joined by the VanEck Solana ETF, Fidelity Solana Fund, and Grayscale Solana Trust ETF.
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Source: https://decrypt.co/353693/morgan-stanley-registers-bitcoin-solana-funds-sec
