Morgan Stanley is stepping into the game, and this time it's for real.

They just filed an S-1 with the SEC to launch their own spot Bitcoin ETF, code-named MSBT. The management fee is directly cut to 0.14%, lower than both BlackRock and Grayscale.
Why so low? Because Morgan Stanley has 16,000 financial advisors, who are bound by fiduciary duty. If the fee is too high, they simply can't push the product. Lowering the fee to the minimum clears obstacles within their internal channels.
Who are the clients served by these advisors? The baby boomer generation in the U.S., holding 52% of the wealth nationwide, with total assets amounting to trillions of dollars. They won't open accounts themselves, nor research Layer 2 solutions, but every quarter, they will have a call with their financial advisor.
If Morgan Stanley's ETF gets approved, it would directly open a private wealth management channel. Some estimate that even if only 2% of client assets flow in, it would be a demand of around $160 billion—exceeding the total of all current Bitcoin ETFs.
The previous two waves of capital—crypto-native users and large institutions—have already entered. The next wave of incremental growth will come from these wealthy middle-aged and elderly individuals waiting at home for their financial advisors to call.
This time, Morgan Stanley isn't just launching an ETF; they are also applying for a national trust bank license, aiming to handle custody and trading themselves, gradually reducing reliance on crypto exchanges. They have also advised clients to allocate 2%-4% of their assets into crypto assets, including retirement accounts.
2024 will see ETF approvals, 2025 will bring institutional entry, and 2026 could be the year the private wealth channel truly opens. This wealth of the baby boomer generation will be the real force behind the takeover.