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Morgan Stanley has taken another step into the crypto market by outlining how its proposed Bitcoin exchange-traded fund would operate, naming Coinbase Custody Trust Company and The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) as custodians responsible for holding the fund’s Bitcoin in an amended S-1 filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on March 4, 2026.
The filing shows that the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust would store its digital assets with the two institutions while tracking the price of Bitcoin through the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4PM New York Settlement Rate.
The structure mirrors the approach used by several existing US spot Bitcoin ETFs, which hold the asset directly rather than using derivatives.
LATEST: 🏦 Morgan Stanley has filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF with the SEC, calling it the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust and naming Coinbase and BNY Mellon as custodians. pic.twitter.com/MVOutdPtie
— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) March 4, 2026
According to the filing, Coinbase Custody and BNY Mellon will hold the trust’s Bitcoin on behalf of investors. Most of the assets are expected to remain in offline cold storage, a security model designed to keep private keys disconnected from the internet.
A smaller portion of the holdings may temporarily move into trading wallets when shares are created or redeemed.
BNY Mellon will also perform several operational roles within the ETF structure. The bank is listed as administrator, transfer agent and cash custodian, responsible for handling accounting functions and settlement processes tied to ETF transactions.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management will serve as the delegated sponsor of the trust, overseeing the fund’s daily management.
The prospectus describes the fund as a passive investment vehicle that seeks to follow Bitcoin’s market price rather than outperform it.
To achieve that objective, the trust will hold Bitcoin directly and value its shares each day using the CoinDesk benchmark rate, which aggregates trading data from major spot exchanges to calculate a reference price.
ETF shares will be issued and redeemed in large blocks through authorized participants, a standard mechanism used by exchange-traded funds.
Morgan Stanley’s filing also notes that the fund won’t use leverage, derivatives or other strategies designed to amplify returns.
The filing shows how major banks are starting to integrate Bitcoin exposure into traditional wealth management platforms.
Morgan Stanley oversees roughly $9 trillion in client assets, and executives have indicated that the bank intends to expand its digital asset capabilities.
On February 26, 2026, Amy Oldenburg, who leads the firm’s digital assets strategy, said that Morgan Stanley plans to build internal infrastructure for Bitcoin custody, trading, lending and yield services as client interest grows.
JUST IN: Morgan Stanley's Amy Oldenburg confirms the bank has plans to offer Bitcoin trading, lending, yield, and custody in the future 👀 pic.twitter.com/WUZVbtH3wZ
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) February 25, 2026
Spot Bitcoin ETFs began trading in the United States in January 2024, and quickly became some of the fastest-growing financial products on record. Coinbase currently serves as the primary Bitcoin custodian for most of those funds.
Morgan Stanley’s proposed ETF would add another major Wall Street player to the market, reinforcing the view that Bitcoin exposure is becoming a standard component of institutional investment platforms rather than a niche allocation.
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