The post Morgan Stanley Launches MSBT as Bitcoin ETF Fee War Deepens appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Morgan Stanley launched the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, ticker MSBT, on April 8 to offer a crypto ETP.  MSBT carries a 0.14% sponsor fee, which undercuts BlackRock’s IBIT at 0.25%.  Eric Balchunas projected $5 billion in first-year AUM and $30 million in day-one volume for MSBT. Morgan Stanley has officially entered the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF market with the launch of Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), a move that pushes one of Wall Street’s biggest wealth platforms directly into the category. The firm announced the launch on April 8 and said the product trades on NYSE Arca under the ticker MSBT.  The launch arrives with aggressive pricing and a difficult market backdrop. Morgan Stanley is entering after Bitcoin has already pulled back sharply from its October 2025 peak, but the bank is still choosing to launch now rather than wait for cleaner market conditions. Morgan Stanley Launches the Cheapest Spot BTC ETF MSBT enters the market with a 0.14% annual delegated sponsor fee. That gives it the lowest permanent fee among Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. and places it below BlackRock’s IBIT, which charges 0.25%. Bloomberg reports that the product is structured as a physical Bitcoin fund that tracks the Bitcoin benchmark 4 PM NY settlement rate rather than using leverage or derivatives.  That fee cut is central to the launch. Morgan Stanley is competing on both cost and distribution, and its in-house product now gives the firm a direct way to keep Bitcoin ETF fees inside its platform.  The bank’s wealth arm also brings major scale, with Morgan Stanley saying the launch extends its digital asset offering for clients as demand continues to grow.  Analysts Set Aggressive Targets for MSBT ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called MSBT the biggest BTC launch since the category began and projected $5 billion in…

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Filed under: News - @ April 9, 2026 12:20 am