Morgan Stanley Debuts Bitcoin ETF MSBT at 0.14% Fee, Competes with BlackRock
Key Takeaways
- Morgan Stanley launches the first spot BTC ETF from a major U.S. bank.
- Trading is expected to begin Wednesday on NYSE Arca under MSBT.
- NYSE listing notice confirmed MSBT ticker for Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust.
Historic Launch
Morgan Stanley launched the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust on NYSE Arca on April 8.
The fund holds actual bitcoin and tracks the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark.
Custody is provided by BNY Mellon and Coinbase Custody.
The product debuts with about $1 million in seed capital and 50,000 shares.
Lowest Fees and Distribution
Morgan Stanley positioned MSBT with an annual fee of 0.14%.
The fee undercuts BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust at 0.25%.
Morgan Stanley has approximately 16,000 financial advisors managing $6 trillion in assets.
The ETF is part of a broader digital asset push including custody, trading, and staking.
Market Context
MSBT enters a tightly contested market with BlackRock and Fidelity dominating.
“Morgan Stanley moves closer to launching abitcoin ETF, signaling a major step toward broader institutional access and intensifying expectations for significant capital inflows intocryptomarkets”
They have amassed over $74.3 billion in combined net inflows since January 2024.
Spot bitcoin ETFs have attracted more than $56 billion in net inflows globally.
Morgan Stanley’s entry comes almost two years after the first 11 U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs began trading.
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