Track Morgan Stanley’s MSBT Crypto Holdings: Wallets Identified by Arkham

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A week ago, Morgan Stanley entered the spot Bitcoin ETF space, joining the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity in the lucrative crypto ETF niche. The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) began trading on NYSE Arca on the 8th April. 

Following the launch, Morgan Stanley’s on-chain holdings have been identified by Arkham. Users can track their inflows/outflows on-chain using Arkham’s blockchain analytics platform. Arkham was the first to publicly identify Morgan Stanley’s holdings on-chain and is currently the only place where you can track their holdings on-chain.

Morgan Stanley’s crypto addresses were identified by Arkham’s in-house blockchain sleuths before being verified as an entity with a high degree of accuracy.

Using Arkham Intel, you can track ETF inflows and outflows as they settle on-chain in real-time. However, it is worth pointing out that ETFs settle T+1 so the on-chain confirmation will occur after the public announcement of the ETF inflows/outflows. 

Verify MSBT’s holdings and track their real-time inflows directly on Arkham here: Morgan Stanley. 

As a relatively late entrant to a market, the multi-trillion dollar asset manager is undercutting the competition on fees. It is currently charging 0.14%, compared to BlackRock’s 0.25% for IBIT.

MSBT Performance

The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust is already off to a successful start. On its first day of trading, MSBT reported around $34 million in trading volume. After five full days of trading, it has $87M in net assets. 

This number is expected to climb substantially as Morgan Stanley has one of the largest networks of financial advisors, with roughly 16,000 advisors managing $9.3 trillion in assets. If these advisors recommend even a modest 1% allocation, net assets could reach $93 billion.

Currently, BlackRock has the largest spot Bitcoin ETF: IBIT. IBIT currently has around $57B in AUM. 

The Details

MSBT is a crypto ETF designed to track the performance of Bitcoin. For a full analysis into how crypto ETFs work, read our guide here. Coinbase and BNY Mellon will serve as the digital asset custodians for the fund, according to the ETF product listing on Morgan Stanley’s website. 

Here’s a quick run-through on how a spot Bitcoin ETF works: 

• 1:1 Backing: Spot Bitcoin ETFs are backed 1:1 by actual BTC. Investors do not hold the digital asset directly; instead, they own shares in the fund that holds the underlying Bitcoin.
• Creation and Redemption: When investors buy shares, cash is sent to an Authorized Participant, who transfers it to the Issuer (Morgan Stanley). The Issuer swaps the cash for BTC, which is securely stored by the Custodian (Coinbase/BNY).
• T+1 Settlement: Traditional finance operates on a T+1 settlement basis. This means if MSBT processes redemptions or creations on a Monday, the on-chain transfer of Bitcoin will typically settle and become visible on Tuesday.
• On-Chain Verification: Because the ETF holds real Bitcoin, anyone can use the Arkham Intel Platform to track the custodian wallets, verifying real-time balances, inflows, and outflows.

Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas said this about the launch of MSBT: