MSBT Flexes $50M on Day One: Wall Street's Bitcoin ETF Surprises Everyone (Including the Analysts)

Morgan Stanley's spot Bitcoin ETF, MSBT, dropped on the market and immediately started showing off. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported that by midday, the fund had already hit $27 million in volume—well ahead of his own $30 million estimate for the entire day. Balchunas predicts the ETF will close with roughly $50 million in daily volume, which would land it in the top 1% of all ETF launches ever.

For context, the analyst pointed to a handful of other crypto ETFs that got similarly hyped debuts this past year: Defiance Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BSOL), VanEck's XRP Strategy ETF (XRPC), and Tema Digital Asset Mining ETF (DRAM). Each of those bad boys pulled in around $60 million during their opening days.

On the operational side, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that most spot Bitcoin ETFs use T+0 (same-day) settlement, though some products—particularly iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)—might have a few quirks in their systems.

As for the options market, Seyffart says it's still early to predict when options will open for newer ETFs. Currently, IBIT is absolutely dominating the space, capturing approximately 97% of total option volume. That situation probably isn't changing anytime soon.

*This is not investment advice.