Morning Minute: Morgan Stanley Files for Bitcoin, ETH and Solana ETFs

Major banks are beating down the doors to get into the crypto game, and Morgan Stanley just became the first major player to make an ETF move.

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.

GM!

Today’s top news:

Wall Street isn’t just dipping a toe anymore.

They’re diving in headfirst.

Morgan Stanley filed paperwork with the SEC to launch spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs yesterday, followed shortly by a filing for an Ethereum ETF as well, marking another major step by a top-tier Wall Street bank into regulated crypto products.

The filing comes as crypto ETF demand surged to start 2026.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs just saw roughly $697M in net inflows on Monday, the largest single-day total since October, as Bitcoin pushed back toward the low-to-mid $90Ks.

That pushed their 2-day total for 2026 to $1.16B.

The timing matters.

After a choppy Q4 marked by drawdowns and tax-related selling, institutions appear to be stepping back in with size.

“Back in October, Morgan Stanley dropped restrictions on financial advisors recommending crypto ETFs… Now launching their own. Makes sense given Morgan’s massive distribution. Clearly they were seeing meaningful demand from clients for crypto ETFs.” - Nate Geraci, on X

This is another quiet but important shift in the crypto market landscape.

The first major US traditional bank has filed for an ETF.

That matters for two reasons:

First, distribution. ETFs are how real money moves. RIAs, family offices, and institutional allocators don’t spin up crypto wallets or custody setups—they just buy the ETF.

Second, validation. When firms like Morgan Stanley file products like this, they’re signaling confidence that crypto exposure is no longer a fringe request from clients—it’s becoming table stakes.

Layer in the biggest ETF inflow day in months, and the message is clear: Institutions are moving into crypto, and the pace is accelerating.

It doesn’t mean prices go straight up.

But it does suggest the floor under Bitcoin, and increasingly other crypto majors like ETH and Solana, is being reinforced by flows that tend to stick around.

That’s the thesis behind the supercycle. And it just might be playing out.

A few headlines that stood out:

More News

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• CT
• Coindesk
• Decrypt
• DLNews