American investment banking giant Morgan Stanley, which has $6.2 trillion in assets under management (AUM), has now made a major crypto move.
Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust will be available starting April 8 under the ticker symbol $MBST, according to Bloomberg’s ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas’ latest X post.
The banking giant announced plans to launch its Bitcoin (BTC) ETF on March 23, 2026, aiming to begin trading on NYSE Arca first.
How does Morgan Stanley’s MSBT launch stand out?
With this move, Morgan Stanley became the first traditional bank to offer credit cards. Bitcoin ETF with 0.14% fee. This is much less compared to the largest Bitcoin ETF, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, which has an annual fee of 0.25%.
Additionally, Farside Investor’s Bitcoin ETF Flow monitor has also been upgraded to include the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust ETF.
In addition to this launch, Morgan Stanley also filed for Spot Solana ETFearlier this year. Additionally, the banking giant has made plans to launch it in collaboration with Zero Hash. E*Commerce Enabling Bitcoin trading in the first half of 2026 Ethereum (ETH)And Solana (Sun).
emotional change
Traditional giants now see the potential in crypto’s long-term value. Reports that support this argument are those that show crypto holding strong against it. traditional asset classes Despite increasing geopolitical turmoil.
However, Morgan Stanley is not alone in this crypto race. Lately, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, also emphasized: The need for banks to catch up with blockchain technology to stand firm against “new competitors”.
Seeing this shift in sentiment among traditional investors, Strategy’s now CEO, Phhong Lee, noted,
Last month, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab and Citadel, among the world’s largest asset managers, broker-dealers and hedge funds, announced plans to develop Bitcoin capabilities. Probably nothing.
Bitcoin price action and more
This comes as Bitcoin price is trading at $71,732.65 at the time of writing, following a 4.34% increase in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the Bitcoin ETF recorded an outflow of $159.1 million on April 7. However, just a day earlier, on April 6, it had recorded a massive inflow of $471.4 million.
Among these changing dynamics, AMBCrypto still believes MSBT has the potential to break MSTR’s institutional Bitcoin bet.
While CryptoQuant data shows that Bitcoin treasury demand is mostly concentrated in the hands of Strategy, the launch of MSBT could be a turning point for the overall institutional Bitcoin market.
Final Summary
- Announced on March 23, 2026, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust will be effective April 8, 2026.
- With annual fees of 0.14% compared to IBIT’s 0.25% annual fee, MSBT is here to fuel Wall Street’s advance in the crypto space.
