Institutional ETF Boom: Morgan Stanley Enters the Market, Solana Breaks Billion-Dollar Mark

Morgan Stanley Surprises with Own Crypto ETF Applications

U.S. banking giant Morgan Stanley has filed applications with the SEC for a Bitcoin spot ETF and a Solana spot ETF ^[3]. The move comes nearly two years after the approval of the first Bitcoin spot ETFs on January 10, 2024, by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ^[3]. The filing came as a surprise even to experienced market observers: Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart stated that he did not see this coming ^[3].

Particularly noteworthy is the application against the backdrop of Morgan Stanley's previous ETF strategy. While the bank manages 20 ETFs, these largely operate under the subsidiary brands Calvert, Parametric, and Eaton Vance ^[3]. Under the main "Morgan Stanley" brand, only two ETFs have existed so far ^[3]. Matt Hougan, CIO of asset manager Bitwise Invest, accordingly described the new applications as quite remarkable ^[3].

Morgan Stanley manages approximately $6.4 trillion in assets ^[3]. The existing Bitcoin spot ETFs in the U.S. have collectively recorded more than $57.75 billion in inflows since their approval ^[3]. BlackRock's IBIT approached the $100 billion mark in assets under management in October ^[3].

Solana ETFs Cross Billion-Dollar Threshold

Three months after their launch in November 2025, Solana ETFs have broken through the billion-dollar mark in assets under management ^[2]. The first Solana ETF launched in late October 2025, when the offering was still limited to the single product BSOL from Bitwise ^[2]. Since then, interest has grown significantly, with several exchange-traded products now available ^[2].

Market leader is Bitwise with over $600 million in assets under management ^[2]. The BSOL ETF offers an integrated staking mechanism, where 100 percent of the held SOL holdings are staked to generate additional returns ^[2]. In total, nearly 1.5 percent of Solana's total circulating supply is held by asset managers ^[2].

Despite stable ETF inflows, the Solana price has barely moved for weeks ^[2]. It currently stands at $138, which is 50 percent below the all-time high from January 2025 ^[2]. The market capitalization is $77 billion, making Solana the 6th most valuable cryptocurrency ^[2].

SUI Benefits from ETF Momentum

ETF applications are also creating price momentum for smaller blockchain projects. The SUI token rose by nearly 20 percent after Bitwise and 21Shares filed applications for spot ETFs on the blockchain ^[1]. The price moved between $1.83 and just over $2.02 in the past 24 hours and currently stands at around $2.00 ^[1]. Sui's market capitalization now amounts to approximately $7.5 billion ^[1].

Onchain data supports the positive development: Total value locked (TVL) in the network broke through the critical $2.2 billion mark, while daily trading volume surged by over 100 percent to $2 billion ^[1].

Strategic Realignment of Major Banks

Morgan Stanley's ETF filing is part of a broader strategic realignment. In October, the bank provided all clients of its wealth management platform, including users of retirement accounts, with access to crypto ETFs ^[3]. Financial advisors can now actively recommend investment in Bitcoin ETFs, whereas previously this was reserved only for clients with high risk tolerance and more than $1.5 million ^[3]. This year, trading in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is set to be enabled through the in-house E*Trade platform ^[3].

Analysts at Morgan Stanley now even recommend a crypto allocation of up to 4 percent for multi-asset portfolios focused on opportunistic growth ^[3]. Competitor JPMorgan is also increasingly pushing into the market: The bank began accepting Bitcoin as loan collateral last year and is considering offering crypto trading for institutional clients ^[3].