Morgan Stanley is poised to become the first major US bank to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF, according to filings and market notices that indicate an April 8 debut.
The $1.9 trillion Wall Street firm’s entry would arrive more than two years after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first Bitcoin ETF back in January 2024.
Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF Push
The new fund, expected to trade under the ticker “MSBT” on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), carries an annual fee of 14 basis points. That price undercuts the current market leader, BlackRock’s IBIT, by 11 basis points — a sizable discount that Bloomberg expert Eric Balchunas called “semi‐shock.”
By Balchunas’s account, Morgan Stanley’s lower fee makes the product more palatable for the firm’s advisors and increases its chances of attracting outside assets.
Compared with many mainstream equity-index ETFs, which typically charge between 3 and 10 basis points, the bank’s fee positions its Bitcoin exposure closer to a commodity‐like pricing structure, the expert noted.
Roy Kashi, CEO of FalconEdge, suggested the move is intended to “blow the competition out of the water,” adding that Morgan Stanley’s low fee both legitimizes Bitcoin ETFs further and demonstrates the bank’s appetite to capture market share.
ETF Launch Anticipated To Spur Fee Competition
Experts such as Balchunas expect the NYSE Arca listing notice to make the fund effective on April 8, at which point trading could begin. The expert has previously indicated that projections for first‐year assets under management will surface after the listing and further analysis.
However, if Morgan Stanley’s MSBT attracts significant inflows, it is anticipated that fee competition among issuers may increase, forcing other issuers to adjust their pricing, distribution, or product features.
The timing of Morgan Stanley’s drive also aligns with a changing regulatory and legislative landscape. Several major financial organizations have accelerated plans for direct Bitcoin exposure and infrastructure as a result of the Trump administration’s renewed stance toward clearer frameworks for digital assets.
As such, major financial firms, including Charles Schwab, have announced plans to expand their Bitcoin capabilities. This signals a growing interest among wealth managers, broker-dealers, and hedge funds, as noted in a social media post by Phong Le, CEO of Strategy.
Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
