Morgan Stanley has proposed an annual fee of 0.14% for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, a rate that would make it the lowest-cost spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. if approved. The fee was disclosed in the bank’s S-1 registration filing for the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT).
At 0.14%, the fee sits one basis point below the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF — previously the market’s lowest-fee option — and about 11 basis points lower than BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart described the move as significant and has suggested MSBT could begin trading as soon as early April. Bloomberg colleague Eric Balchunas added that a very low fee may help alleviate any perceived conflicts for Morgan Stanley’s network of roughly 16,000 financial advisors, who oversee about $6.2 trillion in client assets, when recommending the product.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs seek to track Bitcoin’s price directly, so Morgan Stanley’s proposed fee could intensify fee competition in the roughly $83 billion spot Bitcoin ETF market. Competitors may face immediate pressure to lower their charges or risk losing assets to a cheaper alternative.
If regulators approve the filing, Morgan Stanley would be the first bank to issue a spot Bitcoin ETF, expanding a straightforward route to Bitcoin exposure for many of its high-net-worth and institutional clients. The bank has identified Coinbase and Bank of New York Mellon as proposed custodians for the fund.
The MSBT filing aligns with a broader push by Morgan Stanley into crypto products. In early January the firm filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF and a Solana (SOL) ETF, then followed with a filing for a staked Ether (ETH) ETF later that week. The bank also appointed long‑time executive Amy Oldenburg to lead its digital asset efforts.
On Feb. 18 Morgan Stanley applied for a national trust banking charter intended to enable custody of certain digital assets and to perform purchases, sales, swaps and staking on clients’ behalf. Prior to these moves, in October the bank advised a conservative 2%–4% allocation to crypto for investors and began permitting its financial advisors to recommend crypto funds for clients’ IRAs and 401(k)s.
This reporting is based on Morgan Stanley’s public filings and analyst commentary. Readers should independently verify details and consult regulatory filings for the latest information.