Why Strategy CEO sees ‘monster’ demand for Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF
Is the market underestimating the potential influence of the upcoming Morgan Stanley spot Bitcoin ETF? Nicely, Technique CEO Phong Le thinks so.
In line with him, the wealth administration phase of the funding financial institution may simply flip BlackRock’s IBIT.
He added,
Morgan Stanley Wealth Administration oversees about $8 trillion in AUM and recommends 0–4% bitcoin allocation. A 2% allocation would characterize $160 billion, ~3X the dimensions of IBIT. $MSBT: Monster Bitcoin.
For perspective, BlacRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) at present leads the phase with a cumulative internet influx of $63 billion and property below administration (AUM) of $55 billion. Therefore, the $160 billion projection could be thrice larger than IBIT’s present AUM.
‘Nonetheless early?’ – Why Morgan Stanley is betting on BTC
Because the first wave of U.S. spot BTC ETFs debuted in early 2024, Morgan Stanley has primarily been a distributor, permitting advisors to suggest third-party choices corresponding to BlackRock’s IBIT. For this, it captures commissions for the entry.
As of Q3 2025, BlackRock’s IBIT was printing practically $191 million in administration charges and was the third-highest revenue-generating product in its ETF line-up.
Just a few months later, Morgan Stanley utilized to instantly supply its BTC ETF product (MSBT). It refiled the applying and will quickly start buying and selling. This could finally assist it seize each the distribution and administration charges.
Because the U.S. spot BTC ETFs enter their third yr, and IBIT’s dominance continues, one would marvel why Morgan Stanley is all of the sudden making its daring wager within the area now.
In line with Amy Odelnburg, the agency’s head of crypto, the adoption was ‘nonetheless early,’ including that present demand is usually from self-directed buyers moderately than wealth-advisor-managed accounts.
Even the distribution of those ETFs, about 80% of what we see on our platform, is coming via the self-directed enterprise.
The agency is eyeing BTC lending, buying and selling, and even custody, and could be the primary U.S. financial institution to instantly supply a BTC ETF.
That mentioned, Joe Takayama of Backpack cautioned that the $160 billion projected demand may nonetheless be unrealistic, as allocation might be under 2% and even near zero. In the meantime, the robust restoration in BTC ETFs seen in early March has reversed, with consecutive every day outflows over the previous three days of buying and selling.
Amid the continued macro uncertainty, a sustained risk-off mode by ETF buyers may derail BTC’s restoration. On the time of writing, the asset traded at $70K.
Remaining Abstract
- Technique CEO Phong Le projected that the Morgan Stanley BTC ETF may simply set off $160 billion in demand.
- Morgan Stanley mentioned that institutional crypto adoption continues to be early, with present demand primarily pushed by self-directed buyers and never advisor-managed accounts.
