Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF appears set to begin trading Wednesday after the SEC declared the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust effective and the bank filed its final prospectus.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said in a post on X that the fund looks set to go live April 8, citing a screenshot of the NYSE listing notice. The trust is expected to trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker MSBT.
The filing confirms Morgan Stanley is entering the crowded US spot bitcoin ETF market with a physical product that will hold Bitcoin directly and track the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4 PM NY Settlement Rate. The trust will not use leverage, derivatives, or active trading to try to outperform Bitcoin.
The product also arrives with aggressive pricing. Morgan Stanley disclosed a 0.14% annual delegated sponsor fee, which is below the 0.25% level charged by BlackRock’s IBIT and lower than most major spot Bitcoin ETFs currently on the market.
Morgan Stanley said BNY and Coinbase Custody Trust Company will serve as Bitcoin custodians for the trust. The prospectus also says the initial seed creation baskets are expected to total about $1 million, with 50,000 shares created ahead of listing.
This is a notable step because Morgan Stanley became the first major US bank to file for spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs in January, marking a deeper push into crypto investment products by a traditional finance firm. Morgan Stanley also plans to offer Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana trading through E*Trade in the first half of 2026 through a partnership with Zerohash.
