Bitcoins
Morgan Stanley is poised to shake up the spot bitcoin ETF market with a sharply lower fee structure, as new filing details show its upcoming Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) will charge just 0.14% annually — undercutting every existing U.S. competitor.
The fee, disclosed in updated trust documents shared by Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, comes in 11 basis points below BlackRock’s flagship iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which currently charges around 0.25%.
The aggressive pricing positions MSBT as the cheapest spot bitcoin ETF on the market at launch, signaling a deliberate push to capture both internal advisory flows and external investor capital.
The move carries particular weight within Morgan Stanley’s own ecosystem. With roughly $8 trillion in wealth management assets and a network of thousands of financial advisors, fee sensitivity has been one of the barriers to broader ETF adoption across advisory channels.
A lower-cost in-house product could remove that friction, allowing advisors to allocate to bitcoin without facing conflicts tied to recommending higher-fee third-party funds.
Industry observers say that dynamic could materially shift flows.
Phong Le, CEO of Strategy, recently described the product as a potential “Monster Bitcoin” catalyst, estimating that even a modest 2% allocation across Morgan Stanley’s platform could translate into roughly $160 billion in demand.
That figure would far exceed the size of any existing spot bitcoin ETF and underscores the importance of distribution, not just product design.
Bitcoins Morgan Stanley’s bitcoin ETF is coming
The fee disclosure arrives as MSBT moves closer to launch. The fund has already received a listing notice from the New York Stock Exchange, a step widely viewed as signaling that trading could begin imminently pending final regulatory clearance. If approved, the product would become the first spot bitcoin ETF issued directly by a major U.S. bank rather than an asset manager.
Structurally, MSBT mirrors existing spot bitcoin ETFs. The trust will hold bitcoin directly, with Coinbase serving as custodian and prime broker, while BNY Mellon will handle administration, transfer agency, and cash custody.
Since their debut in 2024, U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs have easily attracted more than $50 billion in inflows, driven largely by retail and self-directed investors. Adoption within wealth management platforms has been slower, often constrained by internal policies, fee considerations, and portfolio construction guidelines.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading near $66,000.
Micah first discovered Bitcoin in 2018 but remained a skeptic on the sidelines for too long. Since 2021, he has covered crypto and business and now works as a news reporter for Bitcoin Magazine, based in North Carolina.
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