Breaking: Morgan Stanley Files S-1 for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs With U.S. SEC

Morgan Stanley, which boasts almost $9 trillion in assets under management (AUM), is making further headways into the crypto space. This time, the asset manager has filed for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs, which will provide institutional investors with price exposure to these top crypto assets.

Morgan Stanley Files S-1 For Bitcoin and Solana Trusts

SEC filings show that the Wall Street giant has filed for both Bitcoin and Solana Trusts with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Bitcoin Trust will seek to generate returns by tracking the BTC price, providing spot exposure to the flagship crypto.

Morgan Stanley has yet to reveal which exchange it will list the BTC ETF on. The asset manager also didn’t name the Trust’s custodian in the filing. Meanwhile, it plans to offer in-kind creation and redemption for the fund.

Similarly, the Solana Trust will seek to generate returns by tracking the SOL price. The asset manager also plans to engage in staking activities to generate yields for investors.

Furthermore, Morgan Stanley plans to offer in-kind creation and redemption for the Solana ETF. The asset manager didn’t name the Trust’s custodian in the filing, nor did it provide other key details, such as the exchange on which the fund will be listed.

These filings mark a significant move as traditional firms continue to embrace crypto. It is worth noting that Morgan Stanley last year announced plans to roll out crypto trading for its retail customers through its E-trade division this year.

Jed Finn, the firm’s head of wealth management, revealed back then that they plan to list Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana first. Meanwhile, in October last year, Morgan Stanley also opened Bitcoin investments to all its wealth clients, removing earlier restrictions. The asset manager will likely move to offer its BTC ETF once it gets approval from the SEC.

‘Smart Move’ From The Asset Manager

In an X post, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas described Morgan Stanley’s move as ‘smart,’ noting that the firm has around $8 trillion in advisory assets and has already approved clients’ allocation to Bitcoin funds.

I like this move by them. It’s smart. They have like $8T in advisory assets and they already OK’d those advisors to allocate so might as well be in their own branded fund vs paying BlackRock or someone else. Further, they could use kickstart to their mostly BYOA ETF biz. This…

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 6, 2026

As such, he believes they might as well have their branded fund rather than paying BlackRock or another BTC ETF issuer. He added that this move could also nudge other Wall Street giants to launch their own in-house branded Bitcoin ETFs.

With these filings, Morgan Stanley will look to join a host of other crypto ETF issuers, including BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Bitwise. It is worth noting that there are already 12 spot Bitcoin ETFs, with these funds collectively boasting total net assets of $123.52 billion, representing almost 7% of BTC’s market cap.

As CoinGape reported, these Bitcoin ETFs just recorded their largest daily net inflow since the October 10 crypto crash. This came as they took in almost $700 million on January 5.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley will be looking to become the ninth spot Solana ETF issuer. These SOL ETFs just launched in October last year but have already taken in $1.09 billion, representing 1.40% of SOL’s market cap.