Morgan Stanley is poised to shake up the spot bitcoin ETF market with a significantly lower fee structure, as new filing details show its upcoming Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) will charge just 0.14% annually — undercutting any existing US competitor.
The fee, revealed in updated trust documents shared by Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, is 11 basis points below BlackRock’s flagship iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which currently charges about 0.25%.
The aggressive pricing positions MSBT as the cheapest spot bitcoin ETF on the market at launch, signaling a deliberate push to capture both internal advisory flows and external investor capital.
The move has particular weight in Morgan Stanley’s own ecosystem. With roughly $8 trillion in wealth management assets and a network of thousands of financial advisors, fee sensitivity has been one of the barriers to broader ETF adoption across advisory channels.
A cheaper in-house product could remove this friction, allowing advisers to allocate to bitcoin without facing the conflicts associated with recommending third-party funds for higher fees.
Industry observers say that dynamics can change flows significantly.
Strategy CEO Phong Le recently described the product as a potential “Monster Bitcoin” catalyst, estimating that even a modest 2% allocation across Morgan Stanley’s platform could translate into around $160 billion in demand.
This figure would far exceed the size of any existing spot bitcoin ETF and underscores the importance of distribution, not just product design.
Morgan Stanley’s bitcoin ETF is coming
The fee disclosure comes as MSBT moves closer to launch. The fund has already received a listing notification from the New York Stock Exchange, a move widely seen as a signal that trading can begin immediately pending final regulatory approval. If approved, the product would be the first spot bitcoin ETF issued directly by a major US bank rather than an asset manager.
Structurally, MSBT mirrors existing spot bitcoin ETFs. The trust will hold bitcoin directly, with Coinbase acting as custodian and prime broker, while BNY Mellon will handle administration, transfer agency and cash custody.
Since their debut in 2024, US-listed spot bitcoin ETFs have easily attracted more than $50 billion in inflows, mainly driven by retail and self-directed investors. Adoption within wealth management platforms has been slower, often limited by internal policies, fee considerations and portfolio construction guidelines.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading near $66,000.