On July 28, 2026, Morgan Stanley launched two regulated exchange-listed crypto products on NYSE Arca: MSSE (Ethereum Trust) and MSOL (Solana Trust), both at a 0.14% expense ratio — the lowest in their categories at launch. Staking is enabled via Figment from day one, with 95% of staking rewards passed directly to shareholders. Morgan Stanley retains nothing. DrafterDaily explains what staking yield actually means for investors, why 0.14% with full yield passthrough changes the calculus, and what MSSE/MSOL signal about where institutional crypto exposure is heading.
On July 28, 2026, Morgan Stanley launched two regulated, exchange-listed crypto products on NYSE Arca: MSSE (Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust) and MSOL (Morgan Stanley Solana Trust). Both carry a 0.14% expense ratio — the lowest in their respective categories at launch. Both stake the underlying crypto via Figment, the staking infrastructure provider, and pass 95% of staking rewards directly to shareholders. Morgan Stanley retains nothing.
This is not another spot ETF. The staking component is the structural innovation, and it is genuinely new: no major US financial institution had previously launched a regulated product that staked the underlying cryptocurrency and passed essentially all the yield to investors. Understanding why that matters requires understanding what staking yield actually is — and what investors in non-staking ETFs have been leaving on the table.
MSSE and MSOL are trust products listed on NYSE Arca — the exchange-traded product wing of the New York Stock Exchange. They trade like ETFs: investors can buy and sell shares through any brokerage account, including standard retirement accounts that can hold equities. There is no minimum investment, no crypto wallet required, and no direct exposure to the operational complexity of holding cryptocurrency.
MSSE holds Ethereum. Under normal market conditions, 50–80% of the fund's ETH holdings are staked via Figment. MSOL holds Solana, which is staked at a higher rate. Staking rewards — earned when validators process transactions on proof-of-stake networks — accrue to the fund and are distributed to shareholders at a 95% passthrough rate. The 5% retained by Morgan Stanley covers operational costs above the 0.14% management fee. At current Ethereum staking yields (~3–4% annually) and Solana yields (~5–7% annually), investors can expect meaningful yield in addition to any price appreciation.
Existing spot ETFs for Ethereum and Solana hold the underlying crypto but do not stake it. The asset sits idle — the ETF captures price movements but not the yield that a direct holder earns by participating in network validation. For Ethereum, that unstaked yield is roughly 3–4% per year. For Solana, it is roughly 5–7% per year.
At a 0.14% management fee, MSSE and MSOL are effectively offering crypto exposure plus yield for less than the yield lost in non-staking alternatives. A non-staking Ethereum ETF at a 0.25% fee is costing the investor 0.25% per year while leaving 3–4% per year in potential yield uncaptured. MSSE at 0.14% costs less and captures 95% of that yield. The math looks different.
This is also why the 95% yield passthrough is the defining specification. A product that staked crypto but retained the staking yield as revenue for the fund manager would offer the price-appreciation benefit without the income benefit. Morgan Stanley's commitment to 95% passthrough — confirmed by Figment in their partnership announcement — means investors are receiving the economic substance of staking, not just the marketing narrative around it.
Morgan Stanley is not a late entrant to the crypto ETF space — it launched its Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) earlier in 2026, which reached $381 million in assets under management by July 16. MSSE and MSOL are the next step in the firm's wealth management crypto buildout. The company has more than 15,000 financial advisors who can now offer regulated crypto yield products to wealth management clients who would not directly hold crypto or navigate staking infrastructure.
The broader pattern is consolidation and professionalization. As mid-tier exchanges close (BitMart, BitMEX, AscendEX all announced shutdowns in July 2026) and volume concentrates at regulated venues, major financial institutions are building regulated on-ramps that offer both the exposure and the yield of crypto without the operational complexity. Morgan Stanley's staking ETP is the clearest signal yet that institutional crypto exposure is moving from 'do you hold Bitcoin?' to 'do you hold yield-bearing digital assets inside regulated wrappers?'
MSSE and MSOL are available through standard brokerage accounts and may be eligible for IRAs depending on account type and custodian. They are not a direct substitute for self-custodied staking — investors who stake their own ETH or SOL capture 100% of rewards rather than 95%, at the cost of managing keys, validators, and operational risk. MSSE and MSOL are the solution for investors who want the yield without the operational complexity.
MSSE and MSOL will likely not be the last regulated staking products from a major US financial institution. The combination of low fees and yield passthrough sets a benchmark that competitors will need to match or exceed. What Morgan Stanley has built is less a product and more a category: regulated, exchange-listed, staking-enabled crypto exposure, available inside the standard wealth management infrastructure of the largest retail investor market in the world.
MSSE is an exchange-traded trust product listed on NYSE Arca that holds Ethereum and stakes 50–80% of its holdings via Figment, passing 95% of staking rewards directly to shareholders. This distinguishes it from existing spot Ethereum ETFs, which hold ETH but do not stake it — capturing price movements but leaving staking yield (roughly 3–4% annually) uncaptured. MSSE's 0.14% expense ratio is the lowest among Ethereum ETP products at launch. Investors can buy and sell shares through any standard brokerage account, with no crypto wallet or direct staking infrastructure required.
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