Big banks are making it pretty clear they’re not sitting on the sidelines of crypto anymore. Even with the choppy price action we’ve seen to start Q2, institutional adoption took another step forward this week when Morgan Stanley officially rolled out its Bitcoin Trust. It’s a strong sign that the “let’s wait and see” approach from the largest investment banks is fading fast.
Morgan Stanley’s new product, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), came out of the gate with about $30.6 million in net inflows and roughly $34 million in total trading volume. The bank is leaning hard on its massive wealth management platform—and it’s also coming in cheap, with fees set at just 14 basis points. That undercuts a lot of the existing lineup, and people in the industry are already calling it the start of a real fee fight—good news for anyone looking for lower-cost Bitcoin exposure.
All of this is happening during a slightly uneven week for spot Bitcoin ETFs overall. Across the category, funds saw about $94 million in net outflows, largely tied to redemptions in Fidelity- and Ark-managed products. Still, the biggest names are holding the line—BlackRock’s IBIT, for example, brought in more than $40 million over the same stretch. Many analysts see this as more of a breather than a breakdown, and the next big “tell” may come from upcoming Q1 earnings reports from major banks (including Goldman Sachs) as markets look for signs that institutional demand is still building.