Morgan Stanley Expands Crypto Presence, Filing for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs

Morgan Stanley Files for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs, Signaling Expanded Crypto Strategy

Morgan Stanley has filed with the SEC to launch a spot bitcoin (BTC $91,796) ETF and a Solana trust, marking a deeper push into digital assets.

The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, detailed in a Jan. 6 Form S-1, will be a passive ETF tracking bitcoin’s price, net of fees and expenses. Shares are expected to list on a national exchange under a ticker yet to be announced. The fund will hold bitcoin directly, without derivatives or leverage, with net asset value calculated daily using a benchmark from major spot exchanges. Authorized participants can create or redeem shares in large blocks, while retail investors can trade on the secondary market through brokerages.

The filing follows strong growth in U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs, which now hold $123 billion in assets, roughly 6.57% of bitcoin’s market capitalization, according to SoSoValue. Net inflows to these products have exceeded $1.1 billion since the start of 2026. The Morgan Stanley Solana Trust will track SOL and joins a category totaling over $1 billion in assets, with cumulative inflows near $800 million.

Strategic In-House Expansion

The filings highlight Morgan Stanley’s move from distributing third-party crypto products to creating its own ETFs, signaling a higher-conviction approach to digital assets. Leveraging its wealth management network, the bank can integrate these products directly into client portfolios, retaining fees in-house — a strategy that has proven lucrative for competitors like BlackRock.