Morgan Stanley Files for Spot Ethereum ETF as ETH ETFs Stay Strong

Highlights:

• Morgan Stanley seeks SEC approval for spot Ethereum ETF, following Bitcoin and Solana filings.
• The Ethereum Trust will hold Ether directly and earn staking rewards for investors.
  
• Spot Ether ETFs show resilience despite October’s $19 billion crypto market decline.
  

Morgan Stanley, with almost $9 trillion in assets under management (AUM), has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF). The request comes shortly after the bank submitted similar filings for Bitcoin and Solana ETFs. This shows the firm is expanding its crypto offerings.

Morgan Stanley Launches Ethereum ETF with Staking Benefits

According to the S-1 filing, the ETF will be set up as a Delaware statutory trust, Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust, a structure often used in regular finance. It will hold Ether directly. Investors can follow ETH’s price without buying or managing the tokens. The trust will stake part of its Ether through outside providers. Rewards from staking will be added to the fund’s value. Investors can earn extra income from staking. This setup may make the fund more appealing than older Ethereum ETFs.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management will be the sponsor, and CSC Delaware Trust Company will act as the trustee. The filing does not yet show the custodian or the exchange where the fund will trade.

Morgan Stanley has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an Ethereum Trust. The filing follows its recent submissions for spot bitcoin and Solana ETFs. Morgan Stanley opened access to crypto investments for clients through its…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) January 7, 2026

These filings show Morgan Stanley is expanding further into crypto as traditional firms adopt digital assets. Last year, the bank said it would let retail clients trade crypto through its E-Trade platform. Jed Finn, head of wealth management, said Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana would be listed first. 

In October, Morgan Stanley allowed advisors to offer crypto funds to all wealth management clients, not just the wealthy. Clients can now access crypto investments through all account types, including IRAs and 401(k) plans. Previously, access was limited to clients with at least $1.5 million and a higher risk tolerance.

Spot Ether ETFs Hold Strong as ETH Rises on Institutional Activity

Spot Ether ETFs have stayed strong even after the crypto market lost $19 billion in October. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said U.S. spot Ether ETFs have only lost about 18% of their flows from a $15 billion peak. “They’ve now seen around $2.8 billion in outflows since their peak of $15 billion right before the 10/10 liquidations,” Seyffart wrote on X on Monday. Big investors, or whales, have been buying more spot Ether. Nansen data shows whales added $4.83 million across 32 wallets in the past week, while smart money traders sold $8.9 million across 63 wallets.

How are US Ethereum ETFs holding up? They're doing okay considering the price performance of ETH but they've seen 18% of their flows leave. They've now seen around $2.8 billion in outflows since their peak of $15 billion right before the 10/10 liquidations. pic.twitter.com/SrKGHYHeK7

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) January 5, 2026

Ethereum reacted positively to the news of institutional activity. At the time of writing, ETH was trading near $3,200, up about 7% over the past week. Analyst Michaël van de Poppe said ETH broke above the $3,100 resistance and reclaimed the 21-day moving average. He compared this move to Bitcoin’s recent price action and said momentum currently favors buyers. If ETH stays above this level, Van de Poppe expects the uptrend to continue in the coming weeks, with $3,800 as the next key target.

$ETH has seen a clear breakout above the $3,100 area and is consolidating, quite similar to #Bitcoin.

I'm under the assumption that we're starting a new uptrend here, as we clearly broke that 21-Day MA.

As long as that is the case, I think that we're expanding the run in the… pic.twitter.com/B7VuwfZPsC

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) January 7, 2026