Morgan Stanley has secured the MSBT ticker symbol and committed $1 million in seed capital for its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF, marking a significant step toward becoming the first major U.S. Bank to offer such a product directly under its own name. The filing, a second amendment to its S-1 registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), confirms NYSE Arca as the listing venue.
The amended S-1 details a basket size of 10,000 shares and a seed basket of 50,000 shares, with the initial $1 million investment. BNY Mellon will provide cash custody, administration, and transfer agent services, while Coinbase will act as prime broker and secure the Bitcoin holdings in cold storage. Morgan Stanley purchased two shares of the trust on March 9 for auditing purposes, according to the filing.
While a management fee has not yet been disclosed, the structure of the ETF is noteworthy. Unlike existing Bitcoin ETFs offered by asset management firms like BlackRock and Fidelity, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust will be issued directly by the bank itself, rather than through a subsidiary or dedicated fund manager. This distinction is expected to impact distribution, allowing Morgan Stanley to leverage its extensive financial advisor network – comprising approximately $1.9 trillion in assets under management – and potentially redirect management fees that would otherwise flow to competitors.
The MSBT filing represents one component of a broader institutional buildout of cryptocurrency services at Morgan Stanley. In January, the bank filed S-1 registrations for trusts focused on Ethereum and Solana. Morgan Stanley has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a National Trust Bank Charter, proposing the creation of Morgan Stanley Digital Trust National Association. This entity would encompass digital asset custody, fiduciary staking, and the facilitation of token purchases, sales, and transfers. The comment period for the OCC application concluded on Friday, March 20, 2026.
Beyond the ETF, Morgan Stanley plans to introduce retail cryptocurrency spot trading through its ETrade platform in the first half of 2026, initially supporting Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Zerohash, which is also pursuing an OCC national trust bank charter, is slated to provide the necessary liquidity, custody, and settlement infrastructure for the ETrade launch.
The SEC has not yet approved the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, and the review process remains ongoing. The bank’s broader strategy encompasses a vertically integrated crypto infrastructure, including a retail trading platform, a proposed trust bank charter, spot ETFs for multiple cryptocurrencies, and the associated custody solutions. The MSBT filing is the most publicly visible element of this ongoing development.
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