Morgan Stanley Pioneers Crypto ETFs for Bitcoin and Solana

Application for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs

Morgan Stanley has filed for Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) involving Solana and Bitcoin. The choice of Solana as a Layer1 alternative is meaningful due to its lower market cap compared to others. This selection allows Solana to achieve a better performance during hype periods, offering an opportunity for the ETF issuer to increase its gains through rising volumes. The S-1 forms submitted to the SEC by Morgan Stanley suggest that we may soon see ETFs for Bitcoin and the sixth-largest cryptocurrency.

Morgan Stanley, ranked among the top ten banks in the U.S. by total asset size, has made its initial move to launch a crypto ETF by applying for one in 2026. This marks a significant step since, historically, professional and institutional investors have preferred ETFs over the risks associated with managing cryptocurrencies directly through exchanges or private wallets. The fall of FTX and the risks of hacking and loss have led investors to leverage trusted entities such as banks for their crypto investments via ETFs.

The Importance for Cryptocurrencies

Traditionally, ETF issuers have been fund managers rather than banks. The entry of banks into crypto ETFs is not common, as banks have maintained a cautious distance from cryptocurrencies despite launching products in many other sectors.

In the past two years, the journey of Bitcoin ETFs has been quite successful. BlackRock, recognized as the world’s largest asset manager, announced last December that their Bitcoin ETF had become one of their top products, generating over $245 million in revenue. Although banks may not be entirely content, this substantial annual revenue from ETFs has compelled them to initiate crypto products to claim their share of the prospective market.

This year, the Trump administration aims to introduce a clarity law for the cryptocurrency markets, which might pave the way for more direct involvement by banks in services like crypto custody and trading. While this may seem contradictory to Nakamoto’s original vision for Bitcoin, the global market’s embrace of Bitcoin as a new asset class necessitates some degree of ideological compromise. The prevailing sentiment among investors has been that philosophy does not equate to financial gain; thus, their primary focus remains the monetary incentives associated with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Consequently, the current environment is merely a natural outcome of this viewpoint.