Morgan Stanley, the American financial services company, has submitted a second amended S-1 filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its spot Bitcoin ETF. The fund, named Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, is expected to trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol MSBT if approved.
The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF application signals institutional expansion.
The filing outlines key details, including a creation unit of 10,000 shares and an initial seed investment of $1 million. Coinbase Custody will be responsible for storing Bitcoin in offline wallets, while BNY Mellon will manage cash, administrative tasks, and transfers.
The fund will support both cash and physical transactions, providing flexibility for institutional investors when entering and exiting positions.
Although approval is not guaranteed, the updated application indicates that the process is moving forward, bringing Morgan Stanley closer to becoming the first major bank in the U.S. to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Since its launch, the Bitcoin ETF has seen inflows exceeding $56 billion.
Key drivers of this inflow include BlackRock (IBIT) and Fidelity (FBTC), both of which remain leading products attracting the largest share of capital.
However, despite strong demand, the spot Bitcoin ETF recently recorded two consecutive days of outflows, totaling $163.5 million and $90.2 million.
Following these short-term outflows, the price of Bitcoin recently fell below $70,000.
The potential impact of the Morgan Stanley ETF on Bitcoin prices.
If approved, Morgan Stanley's ETF could further increase demand for Bitcoin. The bank manages approximately $1.8 trillion in assets, and even a slight allocation adjustment could bring billions of dollars into the market.
For instance, a 1% allocation would equate to $18 billion, which could significantly enhance buying pressure. Since ETFs require actual purchases of Bitcoin, this reduces available supply and supports long-term price increases.
Currently, the focus will be on the SEC's response and whether more banks will follow this path into the crypto ETF market.