Morgan Stanley says Bitcoin ETF adoption is still in its infancy — and that’s partly why the bank is preparing its own entry two years after the first spot BTC funds launched.
Speaking at the DC Blockchain Summit, Amy Oldenburg, Morgan Stanley’s head of digital assets strategy, said demand for existing Bitcoin ETFs is being driven mainly by self-directed investors. “About 80% of the demand on our platform comes from the self-directed business,” she said, adding that many advisor-managed accounts have yet to allocate to crypto. Oldenburg called institutional adoption “very early,” a view that helps explain why Morgan Stanley is moving now to launch a branded BTC ETF despite the market already having established players.
Morgan Stanley removed internal restrictions last year so all its wealth clients can invest in Bitcoin ETFs, and the bank has publicly recommended up to a 4% allocation to crypto for suitable clients. It has filed for BTC, ETH and SOL ETFs, and plans to roll out crypto trading for retail customers this year — leveraging a large distribution channel that could turn late entry into meaningful flows.
The Bitcoin ETF complex has seen substantial demand since launching in 2024. SoSoValue data shows total net assets across spot BTC ETFs at $90.83 billion, equal to just over 6% of Bitcoin’s market cap. BlackRock’s iShares BTC trust remains the dominant fund with about $55.19 billion in net assets.
Market watchers expect Morgan Stanley to attract interest despite its later launch. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted the bank’s strong adviser network — roughly $8 trillion in advisory assets — and said advisers could channel client allocations into Morgan Stanley-branded funds.
On the institutional side, on-chain analyst Root published Q4 filings identifying the largest institutional BTC ETF holders. Wall Street trading firm Jane Street tops the list with around $5 billion in holdings; Susquehanna, Citadel Advisors, Millennium Management and Goldman Sachs round out the top five. Interestingly, BlackRock ranks 15th among institutional holders in Root’s list with roughly $670 million. Root also found that 17 of the top 25 institutions increased their BTC ETF positions in Q4, underscoring a gradual but steady rise in institutional allocations.
Bitcoin was trading near $70,600 at the time of writing, down over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.
Bottom line: Morgan Stanley’s push into ETFs and retail crypto trading signals confidence that broader advisor-led adoption is still an open opportunity — even as ETFs rack up tens of billions in assets and major institutions slowly boost their exposure.
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