The approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs is just the beginning. As top global investment banks start to turn their attention to high-performance public chains like Solana, you can sense that a bigger change is brewing.

Last month, Morgan Stanley submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch exchange-traded funds for Bitcoin and Solana. This seemingly simple step is actually highly significant — it marks the first time a major U.S. investment bank has directly entered the cryptocurrency space as an ETF sponsor, moving beyond traditional roles of just trading intermediaries or custodians.

In the past, Wall Street’s interest in cryptocurrencies was mainly focused on wealth management allocations or indirect exposure through third-party funds. Now, Morgan Stanley has shifted roles — from a simple distributor to a product issuer, taking on core responsibilities such as product design, compliance review, and investor relations.

Morningstar ETF analyst Brian Amore straightforwardly said that this move greatly enhances the legitimacy of the crypto asset class and could likely trigger other banks to follow suit.

Interestingly, Morgan Stanley didn’t focus solely on Bitcoin but instead placed Solana on an equal footing in their application. This choice itself sends a signal — high-performance public chains and their ecosystems are becoming objects of reevaluation by traditional finance. As Wall Street begins to analyze Solana’s risk-return profile, the entire market landscape may truly be about to change.