- The New York Stock Exchange has issued a listing notice for the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust.
- Its pricing undercuts Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF.
Morgan Stanley has filed to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) priced at just 14 basis points, a rate that would make it the cheapest such product on the market if regulators approve it.
According to an updated filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the proposed Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) will carry an expense ratio of 0.14%.
That undercuts the current low-cost leader, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF at 0.15%, and sits well below the 0.25% fee charged by larger providers such as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
See Related: Morgan Stanley Discloses $270M Spot Bitcoin ETF Holdings
Scale And Strategy
While the difference may seem small, even a single basis point can sway institutional and advisor-driven flows in markets where products offer nearly identical exposure. Spot Bitcoin ETFs all hold and track the underlying asset, leaving cost as one of the few variables investors can control.
Advisors often reallocate client assets across ETFs in search of efficiency gains, and Morgan Stanley’s low fee could accelerate that trend. This pattern already shows in the market: Grayscale’s once-dominant Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has seen its assets drop from about $29 billion at launch in early 2024 to around $10 billion today.
Morgan Stanley’s vast wealth management arm oversees trillions in client assets and operates one of the largest financial advisor networks in the U.S. Even a modest reallocation toward its own ETF could reroute billions of dollars and reshape market share within months.
The pricing move also reflects a deliberate strategy. By entering with the lowest available fee, Morgan Stanley is betting that cost leadership—combined with its extensive distribution reach—will help the new ETF quickly gain traction in a crowded field where structure and exposure offer little differentiation.
The New York Stock Exchange has already issued a listing notice for the MSBT, signaling that trading could begin soon after SEC approval. If cleared, this would mark the first spot Bitcoin ETF issued directly by a major U.S. bank, a milestone that underscores how traditional financial institutions are deepening their presence in digital asset markets.
