The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust completed its first month of trading without a single day of net outflows, providing an early test case for how a Wall Street bank’s brand, pricing, and distribution network can alter the competitive landscape of the digital-asset market. The product, trading under the ticker MSBT, launched on April 8 and […]
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Ondo is gaining significant institutional traction after being selected to participate in a key working group led by DTCC. This move places Ondo in direct collaboration with established financial institutions and infrastructure leaders, working to define how traditional assets can be brought on-chain at scale. What Ondo’s DTCC Role Means For The Broader Crypto Market In a recent post on X, Ondo Finance has revealed that the firm has been selected to join an industry working group led by Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a major initiative aimed at advancing tokenization across the United States capital markets. DTCC currently custodies over $114 trillion in assets and has processed an estimated $3.7 quadrillion in transactions annually. Related Reading: Ondo Finance Brings Tokenized Stocks, ETFs To BNB Chain With New Expansion The initiative focuses on building a tokenization service designed to bring the core of the US capital market infrastructure on-chain, with Ondo among the selected group of firms contributing to its design. With this initiative, Ondo is positioned to work alongside major financial institutions such as BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Franklin Templeton, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citadel Securities, NYSE Group, Circle, Fireblocks, Robinhood, and more. Furthermore, the DTCC President and CEO, Frank La Salla, emphasized the significance of this transition, noting that tokenization has the potential to transform how markets operate, unlocking new levels of liquidity, transparency, and efficiency for investors. With over 50 years of experience, the DTCC has been at the center of US capital markets. Its decision to build a tokenization service and to bring Ondo to the table alongside the world’s leading financial institutions reflects how far tokenization has come. As the largest tokenizer of stocks, ETFs, and US Treasuries, Ondo is well-positioned to help shape the next phase of financial innovation, one that aims to keep US markets competitive in an increasingly digital and global economy. Institutional Adoption Accelerates Beyond Experimentation In another major move, Franklin Templeton, a $1.7 trillion asset manager, has made a decisive move into blockchain by choosing Ondo Finance as its gateway to the next generation of investors. An analyst known as 2xnmore on X highlighted that instead of building its own infrastructure or relying on traditional financial intermediaries, the firm has opted to leverage Ondo’s existing on-chain rails. Related Reading: Bitget and Bitget Wallet Support Trading of Over 100 Tokenized Assets via Ondo Finance Through the Ondo global markets, five ETFs are now live and tradeable 24/7 directly from crypto wallets. This removes many of the traditional barriers associated with investing, such as brokerage accounts, geographic limitations outside the US, and reliance on intermediaries, offering a more open approach. Ondo currently controls an estimated 70% of the tokenized equity market, while targeting the much larger $30 trillion global ETF market. Also, this massive gap between Ondo’s current footprint and its potential addressable market underscores the scale of the opportunity ahead. Meanwhile, the broader message is clear. Wall Street is no longer approaching crypto as an experiment. Instead, institutions are approaching blockchain as a more efficient infrastructure layer, and Ondo built the rails first. Featured image from YouTube, chart from Tradingview.com
Morgan Stanley’s Amy Oldenburg said a future move by major banks to put Bitcoin on their balance sheets is “not totally out of the question,” pointing to regulatory progress while warning that capital rules and global supervisory alignment still matter. Speaking during a Bitcoin 2026 conference panel, Oldenburg was asked what it would take for a bank like Morgan Stanley, or another regulated financial institution, to make the leap from offering Bitcoin exposure to actually holding Bitcoin as a treasury asset. “Bitcoin on the balance sheet,” she said, pausing on the premise. “You know, I think if we continue to see the progress that we’ve made over the last 16 months or so in regulatory, that that’s something that you may see going forward. It’s not totally out of the question.” Morgan Stanley And Bitcoin? That answer is notable less because it signals an imminent move and more because it frames the idea as procedurally possible. For years, the bank balance sheet question has sat on the far end of institutional Bitcoin adoption: beyond ETFs, beyond custody, beyond client access, and into the realm of prudential capital, examiner expectations, accounting, liquidity planning and board-level risk appetite. Oldenburg’s caveat was that the constraint is not a single rule. She pointed first to SAB 121, the SEC accounting guidance that had made it more difficult for banks to custody crypto assets at scale before its rollback changed part of the equation. But she immediately widened the lens. Related Reading: Bitcoin To $125,000: Arthur Hayes Says The Setup Is Turning Bullish “I think the other thing too is we were talking about SAB 121 rolling back on the capital treatment, but it’s not just that that holds us back,” she said. “It’s Fed guidance, it’s Basel guidance. When you’re a large G-sub bank, it’s not just one agency that you report to.” That is the core of the issue for a firm like Morgan Stanley. A global systemically important bank does not evaluate Bitcoin only through a market-risk lens. It has to satisfy multiple regulators, capital frameworks and jurisdictional expectations at once. Oldenburg said large banks have “many oversight groups” to attend to and need “a little bit more alignment across the board with some of those agencies.” The Backdrop The Basel point is especially important. The Basel Committee’s cryptoasset standard places the most conservative treatment on unbacked crypto assets such as Bitcoin, and industry advocates have argued that the 1,250% risk-weight treatment effectively makes direct bank balance-sheet exposure uneconomic. The Basel Committee said in February 2026 that it had expedited a targeted review of its prudential standard for banks’ cryptoasset exposures, with an update expected later in the year. The Bitcoin Policy Institute has been trying to push that debate into the US implementation process. In March, the group said it planned to review and comment on the Federal Reserve’s coming Basel proposal, arguing that the current treatment discourages banks from holding or servicing Bitcoin because of the punitive risk weight. Related Reading: Analyst Reveals Bitcoin Big Picture, Predicts 50% Crash By EOY The US side has also been moving, though not in a straight line toward bank-owned Bitcoin. In April 2025, the Federal Reserve withdrew earlier guidance tied to banks’ crypto-asset and dollar-token activities, saying the move would keep expectations aligned with evolving risks and support innovation in the banking system. The FDIC and OCC also moved away from prior-approval style frameworks for permissible crypto activity, while maintaining that banks still need sound risk management. More recently, US banking agencies clarified that eligible tokenized securities should generally receive the same capital treatment as their non-tokenized equivalents, describing the capital rule as technology neutral. That clarification does not solve Bitcoin’s balance-sheet treatment, because Bitcoin is not a tokenized version of a traditional security. But it does show regulators separating blockchain rails from asset risk, rather than treating every digital-asset exposure as the same category. That distinction helps explain Oldenburg’s answer. The path for a bank to hold Bitcoin is not simply “regulators become more pro-crypto.” The first point is Basel: if Bitcoin remains subject to the most punitive capital treatment, a G-SIB has little economic incentive to warehouse it as a treasury asset, even if client demand is clear. The second point is Federal Reserve supervision: even after recent rollbacks, large banks still need a coherent examiner framework that tells them how Bitcoin exposure will be judged across safety and soundness, liquidity, operational risk and capital planning. At press time, BTC traded at $1.3716. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Demand for US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs has rebounded into its longest positive stretch of 2026, putting fund flows back at the center of Bitcoin’s latest test of the $80,000 area. SoSoValue data show the products drew net inflows for nine consecutive trading days through April 24, adding about $2.12 billion since April 14. The run […]
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With a minimum buy-in of $10 million, Morgan Stanley has made clear this is not a product built for small players. The Wall Street giant quietly unveiled its Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio on Thursday, a new offering that lets stablecoin issuers deposit the cash backing their digital tokens into one of the bank’s money market funds and collect interest while they wait. Related Reading: Consistent XRP Buys Could Deliver Outsized Gains By 2030: Finance Expert A Fund Built Around Compliance The portfolio sits inside Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Liquidity Funds trust, known as MSNXX. According to the bank, the fund holds cash, short-dated US Treasury securities maturing within 93 days, and overnight repurchase agreements secured by those same Treasuries. It targets a stable $1 net asset value, prioritizing capital preservation and daily access to funds. A 0.15% management fee applies. Morgan Stanley said the offering is designed to meet the requirements of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act — the GENIUS Act — a federal law signed in July that set the first formal rules for stablecoin issuers operating in the US. The law’s passage appeared to open a door. Western Union and Zelle were among the payment companies that moved into the stablecoin space following its enactment. Amy Oldenburg, who heads Morgan Stanley’s digital asset strategy, said in a statement that finding new ways to work with stablecoin issuers is part of a broader push to update financial infrastructure. While shares in the fund are expected to be held mostly by stablecoin issuers, reports indicate the fund may also accept other qualified investors. MORGAN STANLEY LAUNCHES STABLECOIN RESERVES FUND Morgan Stanley Investment Management has launched the Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio (MSNXX). It is a government money market fund built exclusively for stablecoin issuers. The fund aligns with reserve requirements set out under… pic.twitter.com/ynDaPGPr8y — BSCN (@BSCNews) April 24, 2026 Morgan Stanley’s Bigger Crypto Push The stablecoin product is just one piece of a much larger expansion. Earlier this month, the bank launched the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust — its own Bitcoin exchange-traded fund — which pulled in over $170 million in net inflows within weeks of its debut. The firm has also filed paperwork with US securities regulators to list funds tied to Ether and staked Solana. In February, a national trust banking charter application was submitted to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. If approved, the charter would allow Morgan Stanley to hold crypto assets on behalf of clients, execute trades, and handle transfers directly. All of this is coming from one of the largest investment banks on the planet. Morgan Stanley manages more than $6 trillion in client assets through roughly 16,000 financial advisers. Related Reading: A New Phase For XRP? Integrations Keep Rolling In Across The Ecosystem What The Offering Signals The Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio positions Morgan Stanley not just as a firm that trades or holds digital assets, but as one that now wants to serve the companies issuing them. Stablecoin issuers need somewhere safe and regulated to park the cash or short-term securities that back their tokens — and now a major US bank is pitching itself as that destination. Data from Morgan Stanley’s website confirms the $10 million entry floor, placing the product firmly in the institutional category. Featured image from Banking Dive, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin is back in a place where bold upside calls are starting to circulate again, and while short-term sentiment is still mixed, one analyst believes the cryptocurrency is setting up for a powerful move that sends the price action all the way to $200,000. The call is built around a long-term cycle structure on the monthly candlestick timeframe chart that treats Bitcoin’s recent price action as part of a larger repeating pattern. The Monthly Chart Case For $200,000 The chart Bitcoin Teddy shared is a monthly Bitcoin chart that maps out three major cycle phases using large green expansion boxes and blue-circled buy zones. These buy zones are situated around a curved support line that connects previous lows. Related Reading: Why You Should Be Paying Attention To The Bitcoin Monthly MACD The first buy zone appeared in 2019, ahead of the move that eventually carried Bitcoin above $69,000. The second buy zone was in late 2022, just before the rally that eventually pushed Bitcoin’s price action to $126,000 in October 2025. The third is the current setup, labeled as a 2026 buy zone near the long-term curved support line, with the projected next peak sitting at $200,000. Each rally is gradually shrinking in percentage terms. The move from 2019 to 2021’s peak was over 2,000%. The move from 2022 to the current peak was over 700%. The expected move from the current accumulation zone to $200,000 is around 233%. When The Chart Says To Buy The “when to buy” part of the forecast is just as important as the $200,000 target itself. Bitcoin Teddy’s chart points to the current region, which is the zone between the long-term curve and the lower part of the latest green box, as the preferred entry window. That area sits around the $60,000s up into the $70,000s, with the blue circle placed close to the latest corrective low in February. Related Reading: Analyst Sounds Bitcoin Warning: This Surge Above $78,000 Should Not Be Trusted Bitcoin has since rebounded from that February low, and the broader market has started to stabilize, with Spot ETF inflows returning to more consistent levels. Despite that recovery, price action has not fully broken away from the highlighted accumulation band. It is still within the same broader zone identified on the chart, meaning the setup to the $200,000 projection is still technically in place. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $77,880. Therefore, the path from current levels to $200,000 would require approximately a 156% gain from around $77,000, a move that several institutional analysts believe is achievable within the current cycle window. Goldman Sachs filed for its first Bitcoin ETF product shortly after Morgan Stanley launched its own spot Bitcoin ETF, showing that large financial firms are still pushing deeper into Bitcoin-linked products. Featured image from Pngtree, chart from Tradingview.com
While the market still remembers the sharp drops of the past, Bitcoin held its ground at $75,000 this week. This price remains well below the all-time peak of $126,000, but the mood among traders is changing. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Record Miner Sell-Off Casts Shadow Over Ceasefire-Fueled Rebound Reports show that many investors are watching two different forces at once. They see the potential for new highs while fearing a sudden slide. Despite that tension, the market recently pushed toward $77,000 before some traders decided to sell and take their profits. Since the news of Morgan Stanley’s $138 million move into its Bitcoin-tracking fund, the price has climbed even higher, trading at a little past $80,000 at the time of writing. Heightened Level Of Trust In Bitcoin The bank’s latest move shows a significant level of trust from one of the biggest names in finance. Data shows the fund pulled in more than $100 million in assets during its very first week of operation. It is an affordable way for people to get exposure to the coin without holding it directly. According to reports, this isn’t just a one-time event. It is part of a larger trend where big banks are fixing their old systems to work with new technology. The focus is shifting toward on-chain finance. This means that instead of just betting on price changes, banks are looking at how to use the underlying blockchain as a tool for daily business. Reports indicate that Morgan Stanley is already testing these ideas through a partnership. This setup lets a small group of clients trade crypto directly within a system that stays under tight control. The goal is to move in small steps rather than taking huge risks all at once. Institutional Buying Powers A Market Rebound The return of these large organizations follows a difficult start to 2026. For months, prices had been falling, but that trend seems to be over for now. Reports note that US adoption is climbing at a fast pace. Related Reading: Strategy Raises $1.76B War Chest As Saylor Signals Bigger Bitcoin Buy Even though other coins like Ethereum exist, most big investors still view Bitcoin as their first choice. They tend to stick around for a long time once they commit their capital. They are not looking for quick wins; they are making large financial commitments that could last for years. The current stability is built on this renewed belief from the professional sector. While individual traders might jump in and out of the market, the big players provide a floor for the price. They are treating the technology as a business asset that has a permanent place in their portfolios. Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView
Anthony Scaramucci, the financier and SkyBridge Capital founder who briefly served as White House communications director, has made a bold case for Bitcoin’s long-term value. According to him, Bitcoin’s market cap is well on track to reach $21 trillion, and this is because of its fixed supply, its growing institutional footprint, and a monetary trust system built over 16 years without any central authority. But if Bitcoin were to reach a market cap of $21 trillion, how much would 1 BTC be worth? The $21 Trillion Logic Bitcoin has a fixed supply cap of 21 million BTC baked into its protocol and is immutable by design. This means there will never be more than 21 million Bitcoin in existence, and at a point, investors will be able to only own fractions of Bitcoin. Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Could See Another Crash, But What Is The Long-Term Prognosis? According to Scaramucci, Bitcoin has checked every characteristic that has defined money throughout human history. Bitcoin’s edge is that its trust model is decentralized, its supply is fixed, and its network has now operated long enough to gain credibility with both retail and institutional investors. That is why there is a high possibility of its market cap reaching as high as $21 trillion. Scaramucci positions this as a ceiling still below gold’s total market capitalization, which currently stands at approximately $33 trillion according to data from CompaniesMarketCap. This gap is closable, and Bitcoin offers structural advantages in the process. “You can move it faster, you can store it more easily,” he said. “ On a fully diluted basis, the math lands exactly at a round figure for BTC. A $21 trillion market cap divided by Bitcoin’s maximum supply of 21 million coins gives a price of $1 million per BTC. At the time of writing, only 20,018,784 BTC have been mined, which means there are about 981,216 Bitcoin still left to be mined. That’s less than 5% of the total supply. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at about $76,534, which means a rise to $1 million will translate to a 1,200% increase from here. Wall Street Is Coming To Bitcoin Institutional inflow is the most important factor when it comes to the possibility of the Bitcoin price hitting extravagant price targets like $1 million. Notably, Scaramucci cited institutional momentum as evidence that the structural shift is already in progress. Related Reading: Analyst Sounds Bitcoin Warning: This Surge Above $78,000 Should Not Be Trusted Morgan Stanley launched its own Spot Bitcoin ETF on April 8, 2026, trading under the ticker MSBT on NYSE Arca, making it the first major US commercial bank to issue such a product directly. Goldman Sachs is also in the process of launching its Spot Bitcoin ETF, having submitted paperwork to the SEC for the Goldman Sachs Bitcoin Premium Income ETF. Therefore, the question of whether Bitcoin eventually reaches $1 million per coin and a $21 trillion market cap is ultimately a question about the pace and durability of institutional adoption. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
Is Coinbase too big to fail? It has to be now ETFs rely on it daily Wall Street spent two years selling investors on a clean vision of Bitcoin: a regulated exchange-traded fund, cleared and settled through the same institutional machinery that handles equities and bonds, scrubbed of the Wild West baggage that haunted crypto's […]
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Wall Street’s financial advisory machine now has a direct line to Bitcoin. Morgan Stanley Investment Management launched its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund on NYSE Arca on Tuesday, backed by a network of roughly 16,000 financial advisors who can steer clients into the product through their standard brokerage accounts. Related Reading: Bitcoin Faces Quantum Risk As Bernstein Sees 3–5 Year Window For Upgrades First Bank-Affiliated Asset Manager To Cross The Line The fund, trading under the ticker MSBT, tracks Bitcoin’s daily price using the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4 PM NY Settlement Rate — a pricing tool that pulls executed trade data from major Bitcoin spot exchanges to generate a standardized settlement figure. While BlackRock and Fidelity already offer Bitcoin ETFs, neither is affiliated with a traditional US bank. Morgan Stanley’s entry fills that gap and marks the first time a bank-linked asset manager has brought a cryptocurrency product of this kind to market. LATEST: ???? Morgan Stanley launches its Bitcoin ETF on NYSE Arca today, becoming the first major US bank to offer a publicly traded spot Bitcoin fund. https://t.co/r3un2WaSGs pic.twitter.com/lRV9IOsgEO — CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) April 8, 2026 Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg called it a dramatic shift for the industry. Just a few years ago, he said, such a move from Morgan Stanley would have been unthinkable. Fees Set Below The Competition Morgan Stanley priced MSBT at a 0.14% sponsor fee — a hair below Grayscale Investments, which charges around 0.15% for a comparable product. It’s a small difference on paper, but in a market where cost comparisons drive investor decisions, even a single basis point can tip the scales. The firm says that makes MSBT the lowest-cost Bitcoin ETP currently available among comparable offerings. BNY and Coinbase were tapped to handle custody of the fund’s digital assets. BNY also takes on the administrator and transfer agent roles, covering accounting, record-keeping, and cash management. The combination of a legacy banking giant and a major crypto exchange signals a deliberate effort to meet institutional standards from the start. Related Reading: XRP Faces No Immediate Quantum Threat As Only 0.03% Supply Seen At Risk: Analyst Launch Comes Amid Fresh Outflows Across Bitcoin Funds The timing is not without friction. Bitcoin ETF products recorded their first week of net outflows just before MSBT went live, with close to $160 million pulled from these funds. Fidelity and Grayscale saw nearly $48 million and $42 million in withdrawals each. Despite the headwind, Morgan Stanley is pressing ahead. MSBT joins an ETF platform the firm launched in 2023, which now manages over $12 billion across 19 products. Adding a Bitcoin fund extends that lineup beyond traditional asset classes for the first time. Whether retail investors — guided by those thousands of financial advisors — will move in behind it remains the open question. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
On April 8, Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund began trading on the NYSE Arca under the ticker MSBT, logging 1.6 million shares and roughly $34 million in volume on its highly anticipated first day. The MSBT fund purchased 430 Bitcoin on day one, following $30.6 million in net inflows. Speaking on this performance, Bloomberg […]
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Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) appears close to launch, giving Wall Street one of its clearest signs yet that a major US bank is ready to put its own name directly on a BTC product. On March 25, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) posted a listing notice for the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin […]
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TradFi is taking another step into fully embracing bitcoin as an asset. Morgan Stanley is creating its own Bitcoin investment fund that will trade on the stock market like a regular exchange‑traded fund (ETF) share. To get it started, the lender is putting in about $1 million of its own money as seed capital. Related Reading: Legendary Bitcoin Trader Says HYPE Will Soar To $150, Here’s Why A TradFi Bitcoin Trust Morgan Stanley has filed another amended S‑1/A for the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), confirming ticker MSBT on NYSE Arca. The bank outlined the ticker symbol in a new submission to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, revising the Bitcoin fund proposal it first filed in January. The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust would be the first spot Bitcoin ETF not just distribute but directly issued by a major U.S. bank. It would also mark the first time that the seed basket cash will be used to acquire spot BTC before trading begins. We are talking about a 50,000‑share seed basket and roughly $1 million in initial capital. The trust is set to hold bitcoin via custodians (Coinbase Custody and BNY Mellon under the broader ETF plan), with assets stored primarily in cold storage, and shares reflecting the underlying BTC held. Once it launches, regular investors (especially Morgan Stanley clients) will be able to buy and sell MSBT through their normal brokerage accounts, getting regulated, brokerage‑account exposure to bitcoin’s price without touching self‑custody or spot exchanges directly. The trust will also to support both cash and in‑kind creations/redemptions, giving authorized participants (APs) flexibility, just like the main spot Bitcoin ETFs that launched in 2024 Trading And Risk Assessment However, it is worth noting custodians are not FDIC‑insured. This means that if something goes wrong (hack, theft, failure), you don’t have the government safety net that protects U.S. bank deposits up to a certain amount. Besides that, insurance is through private policies, and the ETF still faces market, regulatory and operational risk, especially in a crowded field dominated by BlackRock’s IBIT and other early movers. Related Reading: Hyperliquid Breaks Crypto Wall? Fiat On-Ramp Lets Anyone Trade With Bank Card Morgan Stanley already holds hundreds of millions in existing BTC ETFs and is building a broader crypto stack (Ethereum and Solana filings, trust‑bank application for custody, advisor access to BTC products). A bank‑issued MSBT product could normalize bitcoin exposure for traditional wealth‑management clients, strengthen the “Bitcoin as strategic asset” narrative, and extend the institutional ETF cycle. MSBT’s launch timeline, fee level and early inflows will be key sentiment catalysts. Strong demand could reinforce BTC’s ETF‑driven structural bid, while a lukewarm debut would signal saturation in the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF trade. At the moment of writing, BTC trades on the highs $70k. Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview Cover image from Perplexity, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview
Wall Street is pouring billions into public Bitcoin mining companies, but the investment thesis has little to do with the emerging industry's future. Instead, the financial institutions are treating these crypto firms as critical power-and-permitting infrastructure, a scarce asset in an artificial intelligence boom that is increasingly constrained not by a lack of advanced semiconductors, […]
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Bitcoin’s market liquidity is poised to receive a significant boost as legacy financial giant Morgan Stanley moves toward offering its own BTC ETF option. The entry of such a major Wall Street institution into the BTC ETF space underscores growing confidence in BTC as an investable asset. It marks another major milestone in its march toward mainstream financial integration. How Morgan Stanley’s Entry Could Shift Supply-Demand Dynamics Morgan Stanley has officially entered the Bitcoin ETF race after submitting a new SEC filing for a spot BTC ETF. The filing names Coinbase and the Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon as custodian partners, with Coinbase Custody also playing a key role in safeguarding the underlying BTC. Related Reading: Bitcoin Leads Crypto Funds’ $1 Billion Rebound To End 5-Week Negative Streak An investor and blockchain researcher known as Anıl on X pointed out that when the first BTC ETFs were initially launched, a significant share of the inflows was effectively absorbing persistent selling pressure from Grayscale Investment. In other words, capital wasn’t entirely new, but BTC exchange was largely rotating from Grayscale’s product into other ETF vehicles. That dynamic had now faded because there is no longer a Grayscale-sized entity continuously offloading large amounts of BTC into the market. Anıl argues that initial inflows into Morgan Stanley’s ETF will represent real demand and fresh liquidity entering the market. Meanwhile, BNY Mellon and Coinbase Custody will serve as the custodians, with one of the providers again being Coinbase, which will also impact Coinbase Premium. Bitwise Channels ETF Momentum Into Developer Support The Bitwise Asset Management has donated $233,000 support open-source developers who help maintain and secure the Bitcoin network. According to Bitwise’s post on X, the contribution is part of the firm’s ongoing pledge to reinvest in the ecosystem through its Bitwise BTC ETF (BITB), which experienced notable growth over the past year. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETF Investors Show Diamond Hands: Only $6.5B In Outflows Since October 10 When BITB first launched, Bitwise committed to allocating 10% of the ETF’s gross profit annually toward supporting BTC open-source development. With this second annual donation, the firm says it is delivering on that same promise annually and reinvesting BITB’s growth directly back into the ecosystem that powers it. Bitwise emphasized that the funds will go to organizations focused on maintaining and improving the BTC protocol, and the donation will be distributed through three non-profit groups: BitcoinBlick, OpenSats, and the Human Rights Foundation Bitcoin Development Funds. The asset manager highlighted that the contribution is made possible by investors who align with this journey. However, Bitwise has described this donation as both a fulfillment of its commitment and a reflection of the trust placed in it by investors who believe in sustaining the open-source heart of BTC. Furthermore, as BITB continues to expand, so do its contributions to the developer ecosystem. The company described BTC as a transformative technology and said it intends to remain a responsible steward of the incredible ecosystem. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
BNY Mellon to act as administrator, transfer agent and cash custodian for Morgan Stanley’s proposed Bitcoin Trust.
As Citi integrates Bitcoin into bank-grade custody and reporting frameworks, Morgan Stanley moves to bring crypto trading, lending exploration and tokenized products to mainstream wealth clients.
Strategy’s preferred equity trades back at $100 as corporate adoption expands at Strategy World 2026.
Morgan Stanley’s decision to file for spot Bitcoin and Solana ETFs caught even seasoned ETF watchers off guard and in Jeff Park’s telling, it’s a stronger signal about crypto’s next leg of adoption than another round of flows into the existing market leaders. The surprise wasn’t merely that a major wirehouse wants in. It was the branding and the timing. Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart said he “didn’t see this coming,” amplifying Eric Balchunas’ “SHOCKER” reaction to the filings. Seyffart then pointed to Matt Hougan’s framing of what made it unusual: “Morgan Stanley manages 20 ETFs, but mostly under the Calvert/Parametric/Eaton Vance brands. These will be the 3rd and 4th ETFs to bear the ‘Morgan Stanley’ brand. Pretty remarkable.” Park, the head of alpha strategies at Bitwise and ProCap CIO, argues the late-cycle entry is precisely why the filing matters. “It is unheard of for a vanilla ETF product to launch two years after the first to market has already secured the liquidity throne,” he wrote. “IAU famously tried a year later, and never caught up.” Park’s point was that Morgan Stanley wouldn’t make that bet unless internal channels were flashing something the broader market still underestimates. Why This Is ‘The Most Bullish Thing’ For Bitcoin Park framed the filing as a total addressable market story, not a product story. “It means the market is MUCH bigger than even crypto professionals anticipated, especially to reach NEW customers,” he said. “This signals that despite IBIT being the fastest ETF in history to reach $80Bn in AUM (roughly 1/5th the time it took for second place VOO), there is enough untapped interest as viably researched and ascertained through MS’ proprietary wealth channels that they are willing to bet that a branded product has commercial viability.” He finished that thought with the kind of line that reads like a thesis statement for 2026: “It means we are still so early.” Related Reading: Bitcoin Wins As Trump Pumps GDP, Suppresses Oil: Arthur Hayes The “why now” also fits with Seyffart’s longer-running view that institutional platforms would eventually shift. “I’ve been saying for literal years that most of these firms will change their tune on crypto,” he wrote. “But it really was just a couple months ago that Morgan Stanley advisors were barred from buying crypto ETFs for their clients.” In other words: the timeline is compressing, and the posture is moving from cautious access to product ownership. Park’s second argument is that Morgan Stanley is treating Bitcoin as an identity product as much as an allocation sleeve. “It means that Bitcoin is ‘socially’ important just as much as it is ‘financially’ important as a product to offer to customers,” he wrote. “Consider the fact that for being ‘digital gold’ there are virtually no branded gold ETFs in existence, yet for Bitcoin there is.” In his view, that difference is the tell: a house-branded Bitcoin ETF isn’t only about exposure, it’s about what the firm signals to clients and recruits by having it at all. Park argued the branding functions as a credibility marker with a specific audience in mind. “This is because every asset manager knows that having a Bitcoin ETF communicates that they are forward thinking, young, and a little edgy that allows targeting the most challenging investor cohort that everyone wants to reach: UHNW Independent Investors,” he said.“ Related Reading: Bitcoin Funding Rates Improve, But Signal Still Not Decisive: Glassnode Morgan Stanley is making the bet that even if their ETF doesn’t scale to blockbuster success, there’s an intangible benefit that will help build their clout.” The third pillar is defensive: platform economics. “It is at the core a defensive move against platform disintermediation and fee leakage,” Park wrote. “By launching their own BTC ETF after IBIT already consolidated liquidity, Morgan Stanley is implicitly acknowledging a hard truth: DISTRIBUTION owns the customer, not product superiority.” He added why that matters strategically: “They are not going to let advisors default to third parties by outsourcing the economic rent. That’s why at first glance while this launch looks irrational through a pure AUM lens, also totally inevitable through a PLATFORM ECONOMICS lens.” That logic also surfaced in Seyffart’s exchange with James Van Straten, who asked why anyone would be surprised if a firm has “own distribution” and “huge demand from clients.” Seyffart’s answer didn’t dispute demand; it underscored that Morgan Stanley historically “doesn’t do a ton of ETF launches,” and that the decision to do so here is itself informative, even if, as he put it, “there’s plenty of demand” for many products that platforms never bother to manufacture. On timing, Seyffart said approval is “at least 75 days from now,” emphasizing that 75 days can be the fastest possible path under current processes, but also that “there’s plenty of products that don’t launch right at 75 days.” At press time, Bitcoin traded at $91,256. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Morgan Stanley’s filing for a Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) exchange-traded fund (ETF), coupled with MSCI’s decision to retain digital asset companies in its index, has ignited a wave of speculation among analysts. Notably, analysts from Bull Theory have alleged that these events could be indicative of a larger-scale market manipulation. Bitcoin Market Manipulation? In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the Bull Theory analysts drew attention to the timeline of events involving Bitcoin, arguing that the trajectory from its October crash to its subsequent recovery in January resembles an orchestrated setup supported by data. The first significant trigger occurred on 10 October, when MSCI — previously a division of Morgan Stanley — proposed removing Digital Asset Treasury Companies (DATCOs) from its global indexes. Related Reading: Bitcoin Accumulation Continues: Strategy Purchases 1,287 BTC Amid Rising Prices This decision would affect firms like Strategy and Metaplanet, which hold substantial Bitcoin assets on their balance sheets. The implications were profound, given that MSCI’s indexes guide trillions of dollars in passive investments. If these companies were removed, institutional investors, including pension funds and ETFs, would be compelled to divest, leading to a substantial contraction in institutional exposure to Bitcoin and an immediate tightening of liquidity. Following that announcement, Bitcoin’s price plummeted by nearly $18,000, wiping out over $900 billion from the total crypto market cap. Morgan Stanley And The MSCI Shift The uncertainty continued with a consultation period that remained open until December 31. This three-month window of prolonged anxiety effectively froze investor demand for Bitcoin. Passive investors became wary, index-linked funds faced potential forced selling, and as a result, prices saw a stark decline—with Bitcoin dropping about 31% and altcoins suffering even more, marking the worst quarter for crypto markets since 2018. However, the tide began to shift on January 1, 2026, as Bitcoin experienced an unexpected surge, rising 8% in just five days. This $7,300 increase, from $87,500 to $94,800, left many analysts puzzled, especially since the relentless selling had seemingly halted abruptly. The analysts noted that this sudden upturn could imply that insiders might have had prior knowledge of forthcoming developments. Then, the narrative shifted dramatically on January 5 and 6. In a matter of 24 hours, Morgan Stanley unveiled its plans for spot Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), and Solana ETFs. This was followed by MSCI announcing its decision not to proceed with the previously proposed exclusion of crypto-heavy companies from its indexes. A Calculated Move? The sequence of these events has led the analysts to present a narrative: MSCI initiated pressure by threatening index removals in October, leading to an extended period of uncertainty and suppressed prices. Related Reading: Solana Shatters Records: 2025 Annual Review Reveals New All-Time Highs In Key Metrics Once institutions had accumulated at lower prices, Morgan Stanley introduced its ETF, and MSCI subsequently removed the threat of exclusion, raising serious concerns about the possibility of coordinated efforts to manipulate market conditions. Bull Theory analysts assert that as the market now transitions back towards liquidity, the same entities that potentially orchestrated the prior downturn may be strategically positioned to profit from the rebound. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $91,550, having retraced 2% from the $95,000 2-month high reached at the beginning of the week. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Morgan Stanley, the $1.8 trillion banking giant, has applied to launch two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the prices of Bitcoin and Solana with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The filings mark a watershed moment for the Wall Street giant, pushing one of the world's most recognizable banking brands deeper into the crypto ecosystem. […]
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The Wall Street giant is widening its crypto push, following bitcoin and solana ETF filings with a potential ether trust.
Wall Street heavyweight files for bitcoin trust amid rising institutional demand.
The decision marks a major expansion for the bank’s $8.2 trillion wealth and investment management business and suggests a growing acceptance of crypto as an asset class for mainstream investors.
The GIC described cryptocurrency as "a speculative and increasingly popular asset class that many investors, nut not all, will seek to explore"
According to Morgan Stanley’s wealth unit, some clients should hold only a small slice of cryptocurrencies in their portfolios. The firm’s guidance suggests a cautious approach: up to 2% for more measured portfolios and up to 4% for those seeking higher growth. Related Reading: Bitcoin Breaks $123,000 As Rising Open Interest Signals More Action Ahead For accounts built around income or capital preservation, the guidance points to 0% crypto exposure. Small Stakes, Careful Rules The bank tells its advisors that crypto belongs in the “speculative” part of a plan. Based on reports, the recommended exposure is meant to be modest and controlled. Morgan Stanley prefers clients access crypto through exchange-traded products rather than buying every coin directly. That keeps custody and reporting simpler, the guidance says. It also means brokers can use ETFs and ETPs to give clients exposure without requiring them to manage wallets. This is huge. New Special Report from Morgan Stanley GIC: “we aim to support our Financial Advisors and clients, who may flexibly allocate to cryptocurrency as part of their multiasset portfolios.” GIC guides 16,000 advisors managing $2 trillion in savings and wealth for… pic.twitter.com/RBWFxlRNkS — Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) October 5, 2025 How To Manage The Exposure Rebalancing is part of the advice. Reports show the firm recommends checking and trimming positions on a set schedule so that a crypto stake does not balloon during a rally. Advisors are told to match allocations to client goals, not to follow price moves. The guidance is clear: this is not for people who need steady income. It is for clients who can tolerate wide swings and who understand the risk of losing their full investment. NEW: MORGAN STANLEY IS MONTHS AWAY FROM OFFERING CRYPTO TRADING THROUGH E-TRADE, CALLS IT ‘TIP OF THE ICEBERG’ – PER CNBC pic.twitter.com/YIE8Qte7R8 — DEGEN NEWS (@DegenerateNews) September 23, 2025 A Move Toward More Access Morgan Stanley is also working on ways to make crypto easier to trade for some of its clients. Based on reports, the firm has a deal to let E*Trade customers trade cryptocurrencies via a partner platform. Initial support is expected for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana. That shift would expand access while keeping many of the operational and custody functions with a regulated provider. Market Reaction And Industry Context Analysts and advisors reacted as expected. Some welcomed the clarity and the firm’s limits. Others said the guidance still leaves open big questions about regulation and long-term risk. The move reflects a wider trend among big wealth managers that are opening controlled doors to digital assets while still warning clients about volatility and legal uncertainty. Related Reading: Bitcoin Just Did It — New Record High Above $125,000 This ‘Uptober’ Large wealth firms set norms for many investors. When a major bank offers concrete percentages, it can shape what advisors recommend across the market. Based on Morgan Stanley’s view, crypto will likely remain a niche allocation for the foreseeable future. The firm’s language stresses caution and individual fit. Investors who want exposure will find managed options and clearer paths to trade. But the bottom line is unchanged: only those who can accept big swings should consider putting money into these assets. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee has issued new guidance encouraging investors to dedicate a small but deliberate portion of their portfolios to Bitcoin. The bank’s analysts now view the world’s largest crypto as a “scarce asset similar to digital gold,” recommending an allocation of 2% to 4% depending on risk appetite. Given that Morgan Stanley’s […]
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The raise included new participation from Morgan Stanley, Apollo-managed funds, SoFi, Jump Crypto and IMC.
The bank will partner with Zerohash to let clients trade BTC, ETH and SOL starting in early 2026, the report said.
Morgan Stanley’s Chief Investment Officer, Mike Wilson, has upended conventional wisdom surrounding the classic 60/40 portfolio, advocating instead for a 60/20/20 mix. Gold now joins bonds as a direct allocation for investors seeking resilience in a time of inflation and market volatility. A new framework from Morgan Stanley Instead of relying solely on bonds to […]
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