TL;DR
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Arkham found three wallets connected to Morgan Stanley's spot Bitcoin ETF, MSBT.
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The ETF is growing really fast, over $100 million by day six, the biggest launch in Morgan Stanley's history.
Blockchain analytics company Arkham has identified three wallets connected to Morgan Stanley, just a few weeks after the banking giant released their spot Bitcoin ETF. Anyone is now free to study how the biggest ETF launch in Morgan Stanley’s history is doing. Spoiler: it’s doing pretty well.
The ETF, called MSBT, began trading on April 8th. It was the first Bitcoin ETF launched by a big US bank, under their own name. Day one saw 444.4 BTC ($30.6 million) acquired, which was the biggest first day of any ETF launched by Morgan Stanley, ever. By day six, that had grown to over $100 million - more than the WisdomTree Spot BTC ETF had accumulated in total. It was launched in January of 2024. Bloomberg senior analyst Eric Balchunas ranked it in the top 1% of ETF launches of the past year.
The three wallets Arkham found hold 1,348 BTC, which indicates there are a few more wallets out there belonging to Morgan Stanley. As of right now, their own portal says they hold 1,820.6 BTC. Those three though, can reveal what the day to day of the ETF looks like. And the pattern is very revealing - that ETF is growing really fast. Some big recent inflows into the wallets are a $13.75 million and a $15.5 million deposit and there have been no meaningful outflows.
BIG BOY LAUNCH: Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF $MBST hits the market today, arguably biggest btc launch since they began. Here are our predictions: $5b in aum in first year and $30m in Day One volume. What do you think? Winner gets a QT and a feeling of pride. pic.twitter.com/iQKpFJ80mU
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) April 8, 2026
What’s Different With MSBT?
So, why is it doing so well, even compared to other BTC ETFs? First of all, MSBT has a very low fee. They’re charging only 0.14%, which is the lowest fee of any spot BTC ETF. For example, BlackRock’s IBIT, which is the largest one out there, charges 0.25% and Grayscale’s mini trust used to be 0.15%. The percentages may seem small but for someone investing $10m+ it’s over $10,000 a year difference in fees.
Secondly, Morgan Stanley has 16,000 advisors who manage $9.3 trillion in client assets. This is a big edge when it comes to distribution. Those two combined makes for an easy pitch to clients who want exposure to BTC.
This is all despite a rocky market. The ETF has steadily grown, while outflows have been the norm for other ETF providers. When the markets ramp up, there’s room for even more growth in this fund.
This is the same Morgan Stanley that once, famously said that the true value of bitcoin may be zero. And here they are.
Investors now have a direct line to the daily inflows and outflows of the ETF through the wallets that Arkham found. It’s important to note that BTC buys are settled a day after inflows (or outflows). Check it out here.
The on-chain view of the ETF is showing that Morgan Stanley has a real winner on their hands. The low fee combined with a huge distribution network means there’s ample room for growth, and that’s in an environment where many investors have lost the appetite for risk.
If Morgan Stanley can keep pushing the product even when the initial launch coverage wanes, the ETF should be a real threat to IBIT’s dominance.
