Morgan Stanley Files Amended S-1 for Spot Bitcoin ETF

Morgan Stanley has advanced its plans for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund by filing an amended registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, naming Coinbase Custody Trust Company and BNY Mellon as key partners for asset management and operations.

The updated S-1 filing, submitted in early March following an initial application in January, outlines the structure for the proposed Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust. The fund would operate as a passive investment vehicle, holding Bitcoin directly to track its price without using futures, derivatives or leverage. Net asset value would be calculated daily using the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4 p.m. New York Settlement Rate, which aggregates data from major spot exchanges. Shares, if approved, would list on the NYSE Arca.

Under the proposed setup, Coinbase Custody would serve as the Bitcoin custodian and prime broker, responsible for securely storing the digital assets and handling trade execution. Most of the Bitcoin holdings would remain in cold storage, with private keys kept offline to minimize hacking risks. A smaller portion could shift temporarily to hot wallets during share creation or redemption...