Morgan Stanley launched the MSBT Bitcoin ETF with a 0.14% fee, undercutting BlackRock’s IBIT and intensifying an issuer fee war. The move could shift investor flows and compress margins across the digital-asset ETF market.
Morgan Stanley is targeting an April 8 launch for a bitcoin ETF on NYSE Arca and is reportedly pricing fees below BlackRock’s 0.25% IBIT rate, sparking inflow hype across crypto markets.
Seagate jumped to a record $460 on Monday after Morgan Stanley elevated the company to its top pick and downgraded Western Digital. The upgrade sent STX to an all-time peak as investors re-rated the HDD maker.
Morgan Stanley filed Amendment No. 4 to its spot Bitcoin ETF registration with the SEC, suggesting approval and a launch may be near while intensifying fee competition among major issuers.
Morgan Stanley set the fee on its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF at 14 basis points (0.14%), which would make it the cheapest Bitcoin fund on the market if approved. The move intensifies fee competition and could shift investor flows toward lower-cost ETF options.
Morgan Stanley’s proposed spot bitcoin ETF (MSBT) has secured an NYSE Arca listing notice, a near-final step before launch. If approved to begin trading, the fund could intensify fee competition with incumbents like BlackRock and Fidelity while opening a major brokerage-driven route for direct BTC exposure.
Morgan Stanley will let clients trade tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs on its internal alternative trading system starting in late 2026, aligning with SEC-backed on-chain settlement pilots at DTCC and Nasdaq. The move signals growing institutional support for tokenized securities and a potential shift in post-trade processing.
Morgan Stanley says the recent surge of Wall Street into crypto reflects years of strategic planning, infrastructure upgrades and work to satisfy regulators, not a sudden trend. The bank frames the move as deliberate preparation to support institutional participation.
A strategy firm's CEO says he expects “monster” demand for Morgan Stanley’s upcoming Bitcoin ETF as wealth managers move to add crypto exposure, positioning the bank at the center of a new adoption wave.
Morgan Stanley updated its SEC application to launch a bank-backed Bitcoin ETF, which the filing says would trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker MSBT. The move would make Morgan Stanley the first U.S. bank to pursue a Bitcoin ETF.