Morgan Stanley Plans Innovative ETH Spot ETF With Staking

Morgan Stanley strengthens its presence in cryptos. The American bank has filed a form with the SEC to create a spot Ethereum ETF, including a staking component. A first at this institutional level, which occurs as market interest in crypto products intensifies.

An Ethereum ETF with staking : Morgan Stanley clarifies its strategy

On Tuesday, January 6, Morgan Stanley officially filed an S-1 form with the SEC to launch an index fund called Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust, designed to “buy, hold, and track the spot price of Ether”, as staking of this crypto accelerates.

This filing marks a significant step in the bank’s commitment to cryptos. According to the document, the fund “will not seek to speculatively sell ethers to generate additional returns”, but plans to utilize the staking mechanism through “third-party staking service providers”, aiming to generate additional passive yield. The exact volume of assets intended for staking has not yet been specified.

Here are the main elements of the filing :

• The fund’s name : Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust ;
• Product type : Spot Ethereum ETF ;
• Passive yield : planned integration of staking via third-party providers ;
• Position on speculation : explicit refusal of speculative ETH sales ;
• Fund’s sponsor : Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

The integration of staking in this initial version of the filing clearly shows that Morgan Stanley is not content to imitate other institutional players. It is aiming to position itself in a segment still little exploited in the ETF world.

An announcement fitting into a strategic moment for Ethereum

Beyond the simple regulatory filing, this Morgan Stanley initiative takes place in a context of remarkable resilience of spot Ethereum ETFs, despite a generally weakened market since the $19 billion crash last October.

According to James Seyffart, crypto and ETF analyst at Bloomberg, spot ETH ETFs have seen only $2.8 billion in withdrawals since their peak of $15 billion, about 18 % outflows, a relatively moderate figure given recent volatility. In a post published on X, Seyffart recalls that this fund dynamic reflects “a form of stability” in institutional interest in Ethereum despite its underperformances.

Meanwhile, data from the Nansen analytics platform show a mixed evolution of investor behavior. On one side, whales accumulated $4.83 million in spot ETH across 32 wallets over the past week. On the other, traders identified as savvy investors liquidated $8.9 million across 63 wallets, showing some wait-and-see attitude.

Yet a strong signal can be noted: new wallets created in the past 14 days have added $2.34 billion in spot ETH, tripling demand in the space of one week. A phenomenon that could reflect new entrants, potentially institutional or semi-professional.

Ethereum passes a new milestone with over 2.2 million transfers, marking increased activity on the network. Morgan Stanley’s entry into this area confirms the growing interest of institutions. If the SEC approves this product, it could pave the way for a new generation of ETFs combining direct exposure and yield on digital assets.