Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas calls this launch “huge.”
It entered the 1% of launches with the highest trading volume.
Morgan Stanley’s spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) had a strong debut in the US market yesterday, April 8, 2026.
This instrument, called Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust and traded under the ticker MSBT, It moved nearly $34 million in trading volume on its first day.
The launch positions Morgan Stanley as the first major US commercial bank to issue its own spot bitcoin ETF. With this step, the New York entity fully enters into competition with already established players in this segment, such as BlackRock.
Bloomberg Senior Analyst Eric Balchunas stood out the start of the product with a strong evaluation. During the conference, he wrote that the volume had already surpassed his initial estimate of $30 million and would probably end up closer to $50 million.
Finally, the fund closed with about 34 million, a figure that, even so, It was enough to enter the 1% of ETF launches with the highest trading volume.
According to market data, the fund recorded a volume of 1,658,176 shares and closed the day at $20.47 per share.
The initial performance is especially relevant because Morgan Stanley is late to a race that already has 12 BTC ETFs in the United States. These financial products have been available since January 2024 and, since their debut, they have raised $56.15 billion.
Part of the bank’s strategy to gain ground is cost. As CriptoNoticias has reported, the MSBT charges an annual commission of 0.14%, the lowest among the bitcoin ETFs launched so far. That rate is below the 0.25% charged by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).
The bet is not minor. Currently, IBIT dominates the sector with some 53 billion dollars in assets under management, but Morgan Stanley seeks to position itself with a more competitive cost proposalaimed especially at high-net-worth clients and investors who prioritize long-term efficiency in their portfolios.
The bank also has a relevant structural advantage: its network of approximately 16,000 financial advisors, who manage some $9.3 trillion in assets. This distribution channel can become a decisive lever for the growth of the product, beyond its stock market debut.
This point drew attention to what was revealed by Nate Geraci, ETF specialist at Bloomberg Intelligencewho showed internal marketing materials prepared by Morgan Stanley for its advisors.
These documents explain how to present BTC and the ETFs linked to that asset to traditional clients, what arguments to use to justify its inclusion in the portfolio and what allocation levels could be considered according to the risk profile.
Beyond the one-time product, this suggests that the bank is preparing a more systematic incorporation of bitcoin into its investment offering.
The regulatory context also helped accelerate this movement. Last year, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) allowed national banks to hold digital assets on their balance sheets, a change that opened the door for institutions like Morgan Stanley to deepen their exposure to this market.