Phong Le, president and CEO of Strategy, the world’s first and largest Bitcoin treasury firm, said Morgan Stanley’s proposed bitcoin ETF could unlock as much as $160 billion in demand under a modest portfolio allocation scenario.
“Morgan Stanley Wealth Management oversees about $8 trillion in AUM and recommends 0-4% bitcoin allocation,” Le wrote on X. “A 2% allocation would represent $160 billion, about three times the size of IBIT. MSBT: Monster Bitcoin.”
In other words, Le says that even a modest 2% bitcoin allocation across Morgan Stanley’s $8 trillion wealth platform could drive about $160 billion into bitcoin, far exceeding the size of existing ETFs like BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust.
The comment landed as Morgan Stanley laid out plans for its own spot BTC ETF, revealing new details in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund will trade under the ticker MSBT, a symbol Le has used as shorthand for the potential scale of institutional demand.
Morgan Stanley’s amended S-1 outlines a structure familiar to the growing class of spot BTC ETFs. The fund is to list on the NYSE Arca with a creation unit of 10,000 shares and an initial base basket of 50,000 shares expected to raise about $1 million. The bank also revealed that it bought two shares earlier this month for audit purposes.
Key service providers mirror those used across the ETF ecosystem. BNY Mellon will act as cash custodian, administrator and transfer agent, while Coinbase is set to act as prime broker and custodian for the fund’s bitcoin.
The product would hold BTC directly, aligned with the structure that has defined the current wave of US-listed spot ETFs.
Asset managers are migrating to bitcoin
Le’s formulation points to a larger question beyond filing mechanics: how much capital asset managers can allocate if BTC becomes a standard portfolio component. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, with trillions in client assets, has signaled that bitcoin exposure could range from zero to four percent depending on client profile.
Even a midpoint allocation, Le noted, would involve flows exceeding the size of existing flagship products such as the iShares Bitcoin Trust.
So far, the adoption has been in stages. Since spot BTC ETFs launched in 2024, the category has attracted more than $50 billion in inflows, largely driven by self-directed investors. Within advisory channels, uptake remains uneven, shaped by internal policies, risk models and client demand.
Morgan Stanley has already taken steps in that direction, allowing brokerage clients to access spot BTC ETFs and expanding availability over time. The MSBT application proposes a shift from distribution to ownership of the product itself, a move that could deepen the bank’s role in the market if approval is granted.
The SEC has not provided a timeline for a decision, and approval is not assured. Still, the application marks a notable development: a major U.S. bank seeking to issue its own spot bitcoin ETF in a market it once approached with caution.