Morgan Stanley has filed amended S‑1 registration statements for its proposed Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, introducing a staking structure that retains 95% of staking rewards within each trust while imposing a 0.14% annual sponsor fee.
Staking Structure Details
The revised filings disclose that both trusts will allocate a portion of their underlying crypto holdings to professional staking service providers and custodians. Under the new model, custodians will forward staking rewards to validators, and 95% of those rewards will remain in the trusts to augment investor returns.
Staking service providers and custodians are slated to receive the remaining 5% of the rewards as compensation for their operational role. The Ethereum filing further outlines validator caps and anticipated delays in the staking process, ensuring compliance with regulatory expectations.
Fee and Reward Distribution
Beyond the 0.14% annual sponsor fee, Morgan Stanley clarifies that the sponsor will not capture any additional staking income. All staking-derived earnings are designed to accrue directly to the trusts rather than being diverted to the fund sponsor.
This fee structure aligns the sponsor’s interests with those of the investors, who benefit from the bulk of the staking yield while paying a modest management charge.
Implications for Investors and the Crypto Market
By embedding staking rewards into the trusts, Morgan Stanley aims to enhance yield potential for investors tracking the price of Ethereum and Solana. The move follows the firm’s entry into the spot Bitcoin ETF market earlier in 2026, signaling a broader commitment to digital‑asset products.
Analysts suggest that the added income stream could make the trusts more attractive to institutional investors seeking exposure to blockchain assets without direct custody responsibilities. As the crypto market evolves, the structure may set a precedent for future exchange‑traded fund offerings.