TLDR
- Morgan Stanley’s spot bitcoin ETF could begin trading on NYSE Arca on April 8.
- The fund is called the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust and may trade under ticker MSBT.
- It will hold actual bitcoin and use BNY and Coinbase Custody for storage.
- The ETF carries a 0.14% annual fee, below several existing spot bitcoin funds.
- The launch adds to Morgan Stanley’s wider digital asset expansion in 2026.
Morgan Stanley is set to enter the US spot bitcoin ETF market with the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust. The fund could begin trading on NYSE Arca on Wednesday, April 8.
Let the games begin ! https://t.co/FLTQiGHpr3
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) April 7, 2026
If it launches, the product will trade under the ticker MSBT. The listing was flagged in an NYSE notice and cited by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
The product would mark a first for a major US commercial bank in the spot bitcoin ETF market. Morgan Stanley manages about $1.9 trillion in assets.
The trust is designed to hold actual bitcoin rather than futures or other synthetic exposure. It also tracks the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4 PM NY Settlement Rate.
The filing says the ETF will not use leverage, derivatives or active trading strategies. It is built to give investors direct price exposure through a listed fund.
Fund Structure and Pricing
Morgan Stanley plans to use BNY and Coinbase Custody for bitcoin storage. The fund is also launching with about $1 million in seed capital and 50,000 shares available for trading.
Its annual fee is set at 0.14%. That is lower than BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, which charges 0.25%.
The lower fee could make the new fund stand out in a crowded market. BlackRock and Fidelity have led spot bitcoin ETF inflows since the first US launches in January 2024.
According to the figures cited in the source reports, spot bitcoin ETFs have brought in more than $56 billion in net inflows overall. BlackRock and Fidelity alone have gathered a combined $74.3 billion in net inflows, based on Farside data cited by Cointelegraph.
Morgan Stanley is entering the market almost two years after the first wave of US spot bitcoin ETFs began trading. Cointelegraph said it would be the first new spot bitcoin ETF product since Grayscale introduced its Bitcoin Mini Trust in July 2024.
Morgan Stanley’s Broader Crypto Plans
The ETF launch is part of a wider push by Morgan Stanley into digital assets. Earlier this year, the bank filed for spot Solana and staked Ether ETFs.
It is also planning to offer bitcoin, ether and solana trading on E*Trade in the first half of 2026 through a partnership with Zero Hash. Another report said Morgan Stanley applied for a national trust banking charter in February.
That charter would allow the bank to custody crypto, handle sales and swaps for clients, and offer staking services. In January, the bank also named Amy Oldenburg to lead its digital asset team.
Eric Balchunas said Morgan Stanley has 16,000 advisers managing about $6 trillion in assets. His comment pointed to the bank’s reach across wealthy client accounts.
The ETF’s launch notice said trading could begin on April 8. That date is the latest factual marker in the reports around Morgan Stanley’s planned bitcoin ETF debut.
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