Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust Sees Strong Early Demand, Despite Operating Loss

The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, MSBT, has reported strong initial inflows of $371.1 million in its first 85 days on the market.

This figure includes $200.3 million in cash and $170.8 million worth of Bitcoin delivered directly for share issuance.

While the fund's net asset value decreased by $66.8 million during this period, nearly all of this loss came from unrealized depreciation of its Bitcoin holdings.

The ETF experienced a lopsided split in creation and redemption activity, with 17.9 million shares issued and only 250,000 redeemed - a ratio that shows demand for exposure to Bitcoin through the trust structure outpaced any appetite to cash out.