Bitcoin Magazine

Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF Nearly Notches $400M in Assets

Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley Bitcoin exchange-traded fund now has close to $400 million in assets under management — despite only launching in April. 

The NYSE Arca-listed fund, which is the first by a bank, got off to a roaring start when it debuted, bringing in over $33 million in fresh cash on its first day. 

Now, the fund has over $391 million in assets, demonstrating the popularity of the product. Many ETFs never reach $400 million in assets at all, let alone in one quarter.

Senior Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas revealed Friday that the product has been one of the most successful funds launched this year so far. 

This week alone, investors have thrown $15.7 million in new cash at the product, according to Farside Investors data. 

Morgan Stanley has been making big crypto moves for years now. Back in 2021, it started offering wealthy clients exposure to Bitcoin via funds such as those by Galaxy Digital.

And last year, the bank’s CEO and Chairman, Ted Pick, said that the bank was working with regulators to see how they could offer crypto safely.

Back in April, the bank’s head of digital assets, Amy Oldenburg said client education — not product design — is the central challenge facing Bitcoin adoption.

ETF action this week

After weeks of outflows and sloppy price action, American Bitcoin ETFs have taken in fresh cash over the past seven days. 

Farside Investors shows the products have received a total of $274 million in new investment so far this week. 

The funds had been on a winning streak, receiving nearly $1 billion over seven days until Thursday, when every ETF experienced outflows — except for Morgan Stanley’s product. 

Bitcoin’s price was recently trading for $64,096, down over 1% over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency is virtually unmoved over a seven-day period. 

European asset management firm CoinShares last week said that while investors are back at putting fresh cash in Bitcoin ETFs, other factors may hold digital asset markets from going higher. 

“We see no significant upside potential from here,” James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, wrote.

This post Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF Nearly Notches $400M in Assets first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.

Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin ETFs Take in Nearly $1B in New Money — But What Will the Price Do?

American investors have thrown fresh cash at Bitcoin exchange-traded funds over the past six days, helping the price of the top cryptocurrency to rise again. 

Data from Farside Investors shows that close to $1 billion has been pumped into the funds since Tuesday last week. 

The price of Bitcoin was recently trading at nearly $65,860, down slightly over the past 24 hours but up 1% over a seven-day period. The leading cryptocurrency touched a weekly high yesterday of $66,891. 

Funds managed by BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, and Grayscale have taken in over $930 million in the six-day streak after weeks of lacklustre flows and sloppy price action. 

Bitcoin is currently nearly 50% below its October record of $126,080 after a massive liquidation event, war in the Middle Eastern and inflation all weighed the cryptocurrency down. 

Bitcoin upside potential?

Analysts remain wary of digital assets’ future price path as markets reckon with a re-escalation of the Trump administration’s war with Iran and inflation. 

European asset management firm CoinShares last week said that while investors are back at putting fresh cash in Bitcoin via the exchange-traded products, other factors may hold digital asset markets from going higher. 

“We have said for some time that Bitcoin has probably reached, or is close to, its floor,” James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, wrote. “But we see no significant upside potential from here.”

Current macroeconomic headwinds, such as the US bombing Iran and rising oil prices, could see inflation go up again. The price of Bitcoin has typically done well on news that inflation is coming down because investors expect interest rates to come down.

And another report by NYDIG last week claimed that the asset’s current slump is down to supply mechanics rather than risk sentiment. 

The report revealed that Bitcoin’s year-to-date performance makes it the worst-performing asset — losing out against US treasuries, silver, and currencies like the Swiss Franc. 

It added that if Bitcoin’s price action were to match other drawdowns — like the bear market of 2022 — a “potential cycle low near $38k-$39k” was possible.

This post Bitcoin ETFs Take in Nearly $1B in New Money — But What Will the Price Do? first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.