Morgan Stanley files amended S-1 for Ethereum ETF

Morgan Stanley amended two U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registration statements on May 20 for proposed spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds tied to ether and solana. The filings cover the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, both structured as exchange-traded funds that are anticipated to list on NYSE Arca if they become effective. (sec.gov) The change that drew the most attention was staking language in the Ethereum filing. The amended S-1 says the Ethereum trust seeks to reflect “the performance of the price of ether and rewards from staking a portion of the Trust’s ether,” subject to the sponsor’s judgment on legal and regulatory risk. (sec.gov) That is a more specific description than a plain spot-price vehicle, because it contemplates income from on-chain validation activity in addition to price exposure. ### What did Morgan Stanley actually file? The SEC records show Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1 for the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust and Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1 for the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, both dated May 20, 2026. (sec.gov) Each filing says sales would begin “as soon as practicable after the effective date” of the registration statement. CoinGape reported on May 20 that the amended filings also identified proposed ticker symbols for the products, naming MSSE for the Ethereum vehicle and MSOL for the Solana vehicle. The SEC excerpts surfaced in search results confirm the Solana filing and the existence of the Ethereum amendment, while the ticker details were reported by CoinGape. (sec.gov) ### Why is the Ethereum staking language getting attention? The Ethereum amendment says the trust seeks to reflect ether’s price and staking rewards from a portion of the trust’s holdings, if Morgan Stanley Investment Management determines it can do so without “undue legal or regulatory risk.” That language matters because staking has been one of the unresolved structural questions in U.S. spot crypto ETF design. (sec.gov) CoinGape separately reported that the filing said the Ethereum trust “will not aim to earn a profit besides following ETH price and staking rewards.” That phrasing is consistent with the broader SEC filing description of a passive vehicle tied to spot ether and any permitted staking income, though the exact wording cited there should be read through CoinGape’s summary of the filing. (coingape.com) ### Does the Solana filing also include staking? The Solana amendment filed on May 20 is also an S-1 update for a proposed spot fund, and secondary reports said it added staking features to the trust structure. (sec.gov) The SEC filing excerpt available through search confirms the amended Solana registration statement and its planned NYSE Arca listing, while market reports described the trust as designed to hold SOL directly and incorporate staking-related returns into net asset value. The SEC excerpt does not, by itself, provide the same staking sentence visible in the Ethereum filing excerpt returned in search results. (coingape.com) But multiple reports published on May 20 and May 21 described the Solana amendment as adding staking, and those reports were tied to the same amended filing date. ### What is still missing from the filing package? CoinGape said Morgan Stanley did not disclose management fees in the amended filings. The SEC cover pages visible in the filing excerpts also do not answer the timing question beyond saying the offering would begin after effectiveness. (sec.gov) NYSE Arca is the proposed listing venue in both filings, but SEC effectiveness and exchange approval still have to occur before either product can launch. The amended S-1s are part of that review process rather than final approval documents. (msn.com) ### What happens next in the SEC process? The May 20 amendments now sit with the SEC as the latest public versions of the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust registration statements. If regulators allow the filings to become effective and the exchange listing is cleared, the products could proceed toward launch on NYSE Arca under the structures described in the amended prospectuses. (coingape.com) (sec.gov)