Morgan Stanley’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) began trading on Wednesday with strong early activity, recording more than 1.6 million shares traded and approximately $34 million in inflows, the bank said.
The fund, which trades under the symbol MSBT, tracks CoinDesk’s Bitcoin benchmark New York settlement rate at 4 p.m. and charges an expense ratio of 0.14%. It is the cheapest fund in its category and offers a clear, although narrow, price advantage over competitors.
MSBT entered the market with a different force than the others: distribution. Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division oversees trillions of dollars in client assets and operates one of the largest networks of financial advisors in the industry. That reach could help the fund gain traction as more investors access bitcoin through advisors rather than direct trading platforms.
Some experts anticipate the fund will raise capital from existing products, most notably BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest spot bitcoin ETF currently on the market. MSBT has a lot of catching up to do. IBIT, which launched among nine other ETFs in January 2024, has accumulated more than $53 billion in assets, quickly becoming the asset manager’s most successful ETF.
Wednesday’s trading offers an early sign of demand, although it remains to be seen whether MSBT can maintain momentum in a market dominated by a handful of big players.
UPDATE (April 8, 2026, 20:00 UTC): Add additional details.
