Morgan Stanley’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) began trading Wednesday with strong early exercise, logging greater than 1.6 million shares traded and roughly $34 million in inflows, the financial institution mentioned.
The fund, listed underneath the ticker MSBT, tracks the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4 PM New York Settlement Rate and fees a 0.14% expense ratio. It is the most cost effective fund within the class, providing a transparent, if slim, pricing benefit to opponents.
MSBT entered the market with a distinct energy than others: distribution. Morgan Stanley’s wealth administration arm oversees trillions of {dollars} in consumer belongings and operates one of the biggest monetary advisor networks within the business. That attain may assist the fund achieve traction as extra traders entry bitcoin by way of advisors slightly than direct buying and selling platforms.
Some specialists anticipate the fund to draw capital from existing products, particularly BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the biggest spot bitcoin ETF at present on the market. MSBT has lots of catching as much as do. IBIT, which launched amongst 9 different ETFs in January 2024, has amassed over $53 billion in belongings, rapidly turning into the asset supervisor’s most profitable ETF.
Wednesday’s buying and selling gives an early sign of demand, although it stays to be seen whether or not MSBT can maintain momentum in a market dominated by a handful of huge gamers.
UPDATE (April 8, 2026, 20:00 UTC): Adds further element.
