SOL Gains as Morgan Stanley Files Solana ETF and Network Hits Record Volume

• SOL powers Solana's blockchain with staking, governance, and ultra-low $0.00025 transaction fees according to MEXC.
• Morgan Stanley filed for SEC approval of both Bitcoin and Solana ETFs, including staking features as reported by Yahoo Finance.
• Solana processed 33.1 billion transactions in 2025 with 28% year-over-year throughput growth according to AI Invest.
• Grayscale renamed its Solana ETF to Grayscale Solana Staking ETF effective January 5, 2026 per Investing.com.

Solana (SOL) demonstrates robust institutional momentum amid Morgan Stanley's landmark ETF filing and record-setting network performance. The native token underpins one of crypto's fastest-growing ecosystems, processing over 33 billion transactions last year while attracting serious Wall Street interest. SOL rallied after Morgan Stanley joined Grayscale in advancing crypto investment products, signaling deepening institutional adoption. That said, questions remain about its scalability versus Ethereum as DeFi competition intensifies according to AI Invest.

What Are the Key Drivers for Solana's Growth in 2026?

Solana's technical advantages fuel its ecosystem expansion. The blockchain achieved 1,100 transactions per second in 2025 alongside a 41% developer growth rate, supporting DeFi protocols and real-world applications. Institutional adoption accelerated with $800 million ETF inflows and partnerships with Visa and Stripe according to AI Invest. Tokenized equities on Solana reached $2.9 billion volume within six months, indicating strong enterprise use cases. Still, future growth hinges on executing upgrades like Firedancer to boost throughput toward one million TPS . according to AI Invest.

How Does Morgan Stanley's ETF Filing Impact Solana?

Morgan Stanley's SEC submission for a Solana ETF marks Wall Street's deepening crypto engagement. The proposed fund would track SOL's price while staking tokens to generate rewards as reported by Yahoo Finance. This move follows Grayscale renaming its Solana Trust ETF to Grayscale Solana Staking ETF on January 5, 2026 per Investing.com. Both filings signal institutional validation of Solana's economic model, which burns 50% of transaction fees to counter inflation according to MEXC. By contrast, regulatory clarity remains pending with the Crypto CLARITY Act potentially accelerating ETF approvals in 2026 according to AI Invest.

Can Solana Challenge Ethereum's Dominance in DeFi?

Solana's speed and cost efficiency present competitive advantages. The network operates at 65,000 TPS versus Ethereum's 15-30 TPS, with fees averaging $0.00025 against Ethereum's variable gas costs according to BlockManity. Solana's DeFi volume hit $1.57 trillion in 2025, surpassing Ethereum's $946 billion. Yet concerns linger over centralization risks from Solana's validator count declining 68% since 2023 to 800 active nodes according to AI Invest. Ethereum maintains stronger institutional inflows at $3.87 billion via spot ETFs versus Solana's $530 million staking inflows according to AI Invest. Solana must prove reliability after past outages to capture more enterprise DeFi applications according to BlockManity.