Morgan Stanley Investment Management has chosen Galaxy as one of three approved validators for two new crypto exchange-traded products tied to Ethereum and Solana. The products, the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust, are designed to give investors exposure to ETH and SOL prices while also distributing staking rewards through regulated investment vehicles.
Galaxy will provide staking infrastructure for both products, adding another institutional mandate to its digital-asset services business. Neither company disclosed what share of the trusts’ assets Galaxy is expected to handle.
Staking built into the new ETPs
The two trusts will stake part of their underlying crypto holdings through institutional validators rather than holding all assets idle. Under that structure, shareholders can receive staking-related yield while maintaining exposure through traditional fund wrappers.
Galaxy was named as one of three providers selected for both the Ethereum and Solana vehicles. The firms have not released further allocation details for each validator.
Different networks, different operating demands
Galaxy framed the mandate as a technical and risk-management assignment across two distinct proof-of-stake ecosystems. According to comments cited in the source report, Ethereum and Solana come with different validator requirements, client needs and risk considerations.
Those differences matter for product design because the trusts aim to combine market exposure with on-chain participation in a format intended for institutional investors. The selection of multiple validators also suggests Morgan Stanley is spreading operational responsibilities across more than one provider, though no additional rationale was disclosed.
Galaxy’s institutional staking footprint
The new role extends Galaxy’s presence in institutional staking at a time when the firm reported $2.8 billion in assets staked across several proof-of-stake networks at the end of the second quarter.
Morgan Stanley’s Ally Wallace said staking remains an important part of both the Ethereum and Solana networks and pointed to Galaxy’s experience supporting each chain. That emphasis aligns with the trusts’ objective of pairing price tracking with staking rewards inside a regulated product structure.
Part of a broader Morgan Stanley-Galaxy relationship
The agreement adds to a wider working relationship between Morgan Stanley and Galaxy in digital assets. In June, the two firms also launched a crypto lending structure tied to Bitcoin ETPs.
Separately, Galaxy recently supported Bank Leumi’s planned Bitcoin, Ether and Solana trading service and is working with BNY on a possible expansion of institutional staking. The BNY effort remains subject to regulatory approval, according to the source report.
What comes next
The immediate confirmed step is Galaxy’s participation as a validator for staking within the Morgan Stanley Ethereum Trust and Morgan Stanley Solana Trust. The companies have not disclosed when additional operational details, such as validator asset allocations, might be made public.
For now, the announcement signals that staking is being incorporated more directly into institutional crypto investment products, with Morgan Stanley and Galaxy expanding their existing collaboration beyond lending into yield-generating network participation.
Source: Coin Edition