Morgan Stanley Investment Management is moving its crypto investment products beyond passive token exposure by incorporating direct network participation. The asset manager has named Galaxy an approved validator for two new exchange-traded products — an Ethereum trust and a Solana trust — that intend to stake a portion of their holdings.

According to Galaxy's August 18 announcement, the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust trades on NYSE Arca under the ticker MSSE, while the Morgan Stanley Solana Trust uses MSOL. Galaxy is one of three firms selected to support staking across the two products.

Staking Rewards Slated for Shareholders

MSSE and MSOL are designed to track the performance of ETH and SOL, respectively. Each product intends to delegate a portion of its assets to institutional validators and pass the resulting staking rewards on to shareholders through regular distributions. Staking is the mechanism proof-of-stake networks use to secure themselves: holders delegate tokens to validators that propose and verify blocks, and the protocol pays rewards for that work.

That structure became available in the United States after the Securities and Exchange Commission began approving staking inside spot crypto exchange-traded products in 2025 — first for Ethereum products in July, then for Solana products in October — which allowed established issuers such as Fidelity and Grayscale to stake portions of their funds' assets.

It also raises operational questions that do not arise in a product which only holds tokens. Ethereum and Solana rely on different validator systems, client software, performance measures, and risk controls. A validator can also experience downtime, operational errors, or protocol penalties, which makes infrastructure selection part of each product's risk profile.

Galaxy said Morgan Stanley evaluated its capabilities on the two networks separately. The release does not specify how much of each trust's holdings will be staked, the expected reward rate, or the allocation among the three selected providers — details that will shape how the trusts compare with incumbent staking products from earlier entrants.

Galaxy Extends Its Institutional Validator Business

Galaxy reported $2.8 billion in staked assets at the end of the second quarter of 2026, spread across Ethereum, Solana, and other proof-of-stake networks. The company presents the mandate as an extension of its infrastructure work for asset managers rather than a new consumer staking product.

That role differs from corporate treasury staking, such as the activity behind BitMine's expanding Ethereum validator operation. Within an exchange-traded product, the infrastructure provider operates inside a structure that must account for fund custody, liquidity, disclosures, and shareholder distributions.

Crypto Products Move Beyond Price Exposure

The launch illustrates how institutional crypto products are becoming more operationally complex. Staking can add yield, but it also ties product performance to validator uptime, withdrawal mechanics, network rules, and the treatment of rewards.

Traditional spot funds have already made Bitcoin and Ether easier to access, with flows tracked through products covered in recent institutional ETF demand. Morgan Stanley's new trusts go a step further by seeking to include a native network function in the investor return profile, extending a practice already adopted by incumbent issuers deeper into the bank-affiliated asset management industry.

The products' intended staking arrangements remain subject to their governing documents and operational execution. Galaxy's announcement confirms its selection, but it should not be read as a guarantee of future reward levels or uninterrupted validator performance.