A new Bitcoin ETF cuts deep into competitor fees, signaling a price war that could reshape investor access
CW
Cora Winters
Bitcoin ETF · Apr 9, 2026
Source: DojiDoji Data Terminal
A new Bitcoin ETF cuts deep into competitor fees, signaling a price war that could reshape investor access.
Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin ETF, MSBT, opened with $34 million in trading volume on its first day, exceeding analyst expectations. Over 1.6 million shares changed hands, and the fund closed at $20.47. That debut came with a fee of just 0.14%—a number that undercuts BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust by 0.11 percentage points and slips past Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF by 0.01.
That pricing isn’t marginal. It’s strategic. At 0.14%, Morgan Stanley positions itself as the lowest-cost major Wall Street entrant in the spot Bitcoin ETF race, a move that directly targets cost-conscious investors and advisors managing large client bases. The firm’s 16,000 financial advisors, who oversee $9.3 trillion in assets, now have a homegrown, low-fee Bitcoin vehicle they can recommend.
The launch arrived alongside a rebound in Bitcoin’s price, which jumped over 7.5% from recent lows to briefly approach $73,000 before stabilizing near $71,000. That surge followed a U.S.-Iran ceasefire announcement and reports that Iran began accepting cryptocurrency for oil transit fees—developments that eased geopolitical tensions and amplified crypto’s role in global finance.
At the same time, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $471 million in net inflows earlier that week, the strongest single-day total in about six weeks. BlackRock and Fidelity led the inflows. Yet even with that momentum, the sector remains in recovery mode. Nearly $5 billion has been withdrawn from spot Bitcoin ETFs since November, a hole only partially filled by March and early April gains.
Morgan Stanley’s entry doesn’t just add another fund to the market. It introduces a new competitive axis: price. With a fee below every major rival and a distribution engine few can match, MSBT signals that the next phase of the ETF race may be won not by brand or timing, but by cost and reach.
Bitcoin ETF
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