Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF), which debuted in early April, posted a remarkable performance in its inaugural month. Launched on April 8, the fund did not register a single day of net outflows and attracted a total of $193 million in new investments, pushing the total assets under management for the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) past $240 million.
Investor interest and key first-month figures
On its very first trading day, MSBT saw $30.6 million in deposits and $34 million in trading volume, opening with strong momentum. Amy Oldenburg, Morgan Stanley’s head of digital asset strategy, described this as the strongest fund launch in the firm’s ETF history. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas noted that MSBT’s debut ranks among the best ETF launches the market has seen to date.
While competing spot Bitcoin ETFs from industry giants like BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, and ARK Invest experienced net outflows during a period when Bitcoin’s price fluctuated between $70,000 and $80,000, MSBT stood out as it continued to attract steady inflows throughout its entire first month.
According to data from SoSoValue, MSBT recorded net investor inflows on 17 separate days during its first month, while five days saw balanced inflow and outflow — but not a single day saw net redemptions. In the first six trading days alone, the fund accumulated over $103 million, surpassing the total inflows ever seen by its competitor, BTCW.
Low fee strategy gives MSBT an edge
Experts point to MSBT’s ultra-competitive fee structure as a differentiator. The fund’s sponsor fee, set at just 0.14 percent, is among the lowest in the spot Bitcoin ETF segment. This undercuts rivals such as Bitwise and ARKB, and is even below the 0.25 percent fee charged by major players IBIT and FBTC.
Analyses show that this cost advantage is especially relevant for large institutional investors, where small percentage differences produce significant annual savings on high-volume portfolios. In the fund’s early weeks, almost all investments came from individual investors, as MSBT had not yet been added to Morgan Stanley’s own advisory network.
Oldenburg stated that, “In the first week and the days after, nearly every trade we saw in the fund came from self-directed individual clients,” highlighting the early investor base for MSBT.
MSBT’s market positioning after launch
Within just two trading days, MSBT attracted an additional $13 million in fresh capital, even as rival funds collectively saw $422 million in outflows. On May 7, a particularly challenging day for the sector, MSBT still achieved $5.7 million in inflows. Meanwhile, Fidelity experienced nearly $100 million in redemptions and BlackRock lost over $27 million from its fund.
MSBT traded at a 0.24 percent premium over its net asset value, a sign that investor demand was exceeding the available supply. The ETF’s price reflected stronger buying pressure compared to competitors like IBIT or FBTC. As of the latest data, MSBT held around 2,620 Bitcoin, earning it the 32nd spot globally among all crypto ETFs.
There is sustained institutional interest in the cryptocurrency space. In just six weeks, leading US-based Bitcoin ETFs saw combined inflows of $3 billion. Since January, total investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs have reached $59.3 billion, with managed assets now standing at $106.6 billion across the segment.
