Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF Surpasses $34 Million on First Day… “Step Aside, BlackRock”

▲ Bitcoin (BTC), Morgan Stanley/ChatGPT-generated image

Morgan Stanley’s newly launched spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) recorded $34 million in trading volume on its first day, successfully establishing its presence in the market.

According to a report by crypto-focused outlet CryptoPotato on April 9 (local time), the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) processed approximately $34 million in trades on its first day of listing on NYSE Arca. This exceeded the $30 million forecast by Bloomberg Intelligence analysts. With this launch, Morgan Stanley became the first major U.S. bank to operate its own spot Bitcoin ETF.

MSBT posted $30.6 million in net inflows on its debut day. As of April 8, the fund holds 444.4 BTC, valued at approximately $31.7 million. Notably, Morgan Stanley set a highly competitive management fee of 0.14%, the lowest among spot Bitcoin ETFs currently available in the U.S. market, 0.11 percentage points lower than the 0.25% charged by market leader BlackRock.

Industry experts оценated Morgan Stanley’s entry as opening a new chapter in the institutional adoption of digital assets. The firm manages about $1.9 trillion in assets and operates a network of approximately 16,000 financial advisors. Analysts suggest that this powerful distribution channel could drive significant inflows from traditional high-net-worth investors who have previously been hesitant to invest in digital assets.

However, the broader market showed mixed signals. On the same day MSBT launched, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively recorded net outflows of about $124.5 million. BlackRock maintained its top market share position with $40 million in net inflows that day. While MSBT’s first-day trading volume was lower compared to the billions recorded by BlackRock and Grayscale at their launches in January 2024, it ranks within the top 1% of ETFs launched over the past year.

Following the launch of MSBT, Morgan Stanley is expanding its business across the broader digital asset ecosystem. The company has reorganized its structure, appointing dedicated leadership to strengthen institutional-grade capabilities across custody, trading, and product development. Investors are watching closely to see whether Morgan Stanley’s fee reduction strategy will trigger a broader wave of fee competition among other issuers.

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