Morgan Stanley Advances Bitcoin ETF Plan with Coinbase and BNY Mellon
Morgan Stanley has taken a significant step in the spot Bitcoin ETF market by filing an amended registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust. This proposed fund would hold Bitcoin directly, distinguishing it from products that rely on derivatives or leverage. The filing reveals that Coinbase Custody Trust Company and BNY Mellon will serve as the fund's Bitcoin custodians, overseeing the safeguarding and transfer of digital assets related to share creations and redemptions.
BNY Mellon's role extends beyond custody, as it will also act as the fund's administrator, transfer agent, and cash custodian, handling accounting, shareholder records, and cash management. This dual-custodian setup aligns with the institutional standards adopted by other major asset managers entering the spot Bitcoin ETF space. The majority of the trust's Bitcoin holdings will be stored in offline cold-storage vaults to minimize cybersecurity risks, though some assets may temporarily move to trading wallets during share creation or redemption periods.
The fund will use the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4PM New York Settlement Rate for daily pricing, ensuring investors receive a regulated Bitcoin exposure through standard brokerage accounts without needing to manage the asset directly. Morgan Stanley first filed for the trust in January, marking one of the most notable entries by a major U.S. bank into the spot Bitcoin ETF market. The firm manages approximately $8 trillion in client assets, and leadership has noted that a significant portion of these clients already hold crypto through external platforms.
Morgan Stanley is also pursuing a national trust bank charter to hold digital assets directly for institutional clients. Amy Oldenburg, head of digital asset strategy at Morgan Stanley, emphasized that custody is central to the firm's long-term digital asset roadmap. Additionally, the bank plans to enable E*Trade clients to trade spot cryptocurrencies through a third-party partnership, with an in-house solution expected in the future.