The success of Bitcoin spot ETFs is merely the prelude to Wall Street giants fully invading the crypto world. When Morgan Stanley turns its attention to the more promising Solana, a deeper revolution in asset digitization, led by top investment banks, has already begun.
On January 6, 2026, Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to apply for launching Bitcoin and Solana exchange-traded funds.
This move marks the first time a major U.S. investment bank has directly entered the issuance and management of cryptocurrency ETFs, rather than merely providing trading channels or custody services.
01 Landmark Event
Morgan Stanley's move marks a clear turning point. In the past, large banks' involvement in crypto was mostly limited to restricted allocations within wealth management channels or providing indirect exposure through third-party funds.
Morgan Stanley's application as an ETF sponsor marks a shift from being merely a 'distributor' to becoming a 'product issuer,' taking on core responsibilities such as product structuring, compliance obligations, and long-term investor relations management.
Bryan Amor, ETF analyst at Morningstar, noted that Morgan Stanley's entry into the crypto ETF market adds legitimacy to this asset class and may prompt other banks to follow suit.
02 Why Solana?
Morgan Stanley's inclusion of Solana alongside Bitcoin in its first crypto ETF application is itself a strong signal.
The risk and value logic represented by Solana differ significantly from Bitcoin. Bitcoin's core narrative is value storage and digital gold, while Solana's core revolves around smart contracts, decentralized applications, and a high-throughput ecosystem.
This signals that institutions like Morgan Stanley are testing whether the regulated capital markets are ready to accept multi-tiered, differentiated crypto asset allocations.
Institutions such as Pantera Capital particularly favor Solana, believing that its advantage in low-cost microtransactions could make it the preferred settlement layer for AI agents conducting commercial payments.
03 Technological Upgrades Support Valuation
Solana's price outlook for 2026 is closely tied to its major technological upgrades. The market generally believes that if the technical upgrades proceed smoothly and institutional adoption increases, SOL could enter a higher valuation range.
The most closely watched is the Alpenglow consensus upgrade. This upgrade aims to reduce transaction finality time from seconds to milliseconds, which is crucial for trading firms and institutional users seeking ultra-fast execution.
The Firedancer validator client upgrade, driven by Jump Crypto, focuses on enhancing network throughput and stability, reducing single-client risks, and paving the way for institutional-grade applications.
Meanwhile, Jito Labs' upcoming Block Assembly Market (BAM) will introduce a transparent block space auction mechanism, aiming to improve network economic fairness and validator incentives.
04 Ecosystem Expansion and Institutional Adoption
Beyond underlying technology, Solana is also showing strong momentum in application ecosystems and institutional adoption. The network is accelerating its deployment in real-world asset tokenization.
RWA projects such as government bonds, credit instruments, and commodities are gradually being launched on Solana, expanding its applications beyond mere cryptocurrency speculation.
This trend helps smooth out market cycle fluctuations and brings more long-term-oriented capital into the Solana ecosystem. The increased usage of stablecoins in payments, trading, and DeFi scenarios has led to more stable and sustainable on-chain activity for Solana.
05 Solana Price Forecast
Over the past week, SOL has risen 9%, with the current price at $138. At the same time, trading volume reached $5.5 billion, accounting for 7% of the asset's market cap.
The daily chart shows that SOL has broken through the descending wedge pattern—a bullish formation—where a breakout typically signals a trend reversal.
The token's near-term target price is $160, as the market may retest the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA).
Meanwhile, if SOL breaks above its 200-day moving average, driven by growing institutional demand on Wall Street, it could quickly reach $200.
As interest in the Solana ecosystem continues to grow, top crypto presales like Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) may eventually attract attention from Wall Street. It is a powerful Bitcoin L2 service built on Solana, enabling Bitcoin investors to easily generate passive income from their assets.
06 Hidden Concerns Behind the Surge
Morgan Stanley's application undoubtedly ignited market enthusiasm, but beneath Wall Street's crypto boom lies structural risks. Analysts predict over 100 crypto-related ETFs will launch by 2026, but many may be liquidated before 2027.
A prominent risk is the high concentration of custody. Coinbase holds assets for the majority of crypto ETFs, accounting for as much as 85% of the global Bitcoin ETF market. This 'single point of failure' could impact a large number of related assets if triggered.
Additionally, many altcoins lack sufficiently deep derivatives markets, making it difficult to hedge inflows and outflows without significantly impacting prices.
Bloomberg analyst James Saft predicts that high-fee repetitive single-asset funds, niche index products, and thematic products will be the most vulnerable.
07 New Industry Paradigm
Morgan Stanley's move is not an isolated event but a reflection of the broader crypto industry entering an 'industrialized phase.' Over 30 top institutions have reached a consensus in their 2026 outlook: the 'four-year cycle' theory for Bitcoin is losing validity.
The market is shifting from a model driven by retail speculation and narratives to one built on substantive growth supported by regulatory clarity, macro hedging demand, and real-world technological utility.
Grayscale pointed out in its report that with the widespread adoption of spot ETFs, institutional investors' systematic capital flows based on asset allocation models are replacing the previous volatile cycles driven by retail sentiment.
In this new paradigm, tracking ETF fund flows, stablecoin issuance volume, and corporate balance sheet allocations will be more critical than relying solely on the halving narrative.
Article Summary:
After Morgan Stanley submitted its application, the entire crypto world held its breath waiting for the SEC's decision. This is not just a simple product approval but a litmus test for whether crypto can truly integrate into the core global financial system.
Regardless of the outcome, Wall Street's top players have already shown through actions that they are no longer content to just watch from the sidelines. From providing channels to issuing products, from Bitcoin to Solana, a deep and structural integration has already begun.
