Morgan Stanley filed a registration statement for an Ethereum (ETH) Trust with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The January 7 filing follows spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) ETF submissions made one day earlier.
The three filings within 48 hours mark the most aggressive crypto product expansion by a major U.S. bank.
What Happened
Morgan Stanley Investment Management, which manages $1.8 trillion in assets, submitted the Ethereum Trust registration Tuesday.
The proposed fund would hold ether directly and stake a portion of holdings through third-party providers.
The bank's January 6 Solana Trust filing similarly includes staking functionality, while the Bitcoin Trust operates as a passive holding vehicle.
Morgan Stanley becomes the first major U.S. bank to file for proprietary spot crypto ETFs rather than distributing third-party products.
The bank began offering crypto investment access to wealth management clients in October through existing third-party funds.
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Why It Matters
The rapid three-product filing signals Morgan Stanley's commitment to building in-house crypto infrastructure rather than relying on competitors' products.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs currently hold $123 billion in assets, representing 6.57% of Bitcoin's total market capitalization.
BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF became that firm's top revenue source in November, demonstrating the economics driving traditional finance into crypto products.
The staking features in both Ethereum and Solana trusts represent attempts to differentiate from existing spot-only products.
Morgan Stanley's move could pressure other major banks to accelerate their own crypto product development rather than remaining distributors.
However, regulatory approval timelines remain uncertain as the SEC evaluates the growing queue of crypto ETF applications.
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