Morgan Stanley Boosts BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Stake 23%

Morgan Stanley increases exposure to BlackRock’s IBIT and other crypto products

Morgan Stanley reported a notable shift in its crypto-related positions in the second quarter, revealing a roughly 23% increase in its holding of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). According to the Form 13F filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and signed Aug. 11, the bank and its affiliated managers held about 16.5 million IBIT shares at quarter-end, up from approximately 13.4 million at the end of Q1. While the share count climbed, the dollar value of the IBIT stake fell to roughly $549 million as Bitcoin’s market price declined during the quarter.

Key takeaways

• Morgan Stanley added about 3.04 million IBIT shares in Q2, representing a 23% increase by share count.
• The reported IBIT position was valued at $549 million on June 30, down nearly 18% from the prior quarter due to Bitcoin’s price movement.
• Ether and Solana exposure also rose across multiple funds, with the bank increasing holdings in BlackRock’s Ether ETF and adding Solana-related products.
• The filing covered positions from several related managers and included nearly 46,000 entries with an aggregate reported value of about $1.89 trillion.

What the 13F filing shows — and what it doesn’t

A Form 13F provides a snapshot of certain U.S.-listed securities held by institutional investment managers at quarter-end. Morgan Stanley’s Q2 filing aggregates positions managed across affiliated teams, but it does not disclose every trade executed during the period, reveal short positions, or confirm that every reported share is a proprietary holding of Morgan Stanley itself. In short, the 13F gives a useful, but incomplete, picture of institutional crypto exposure through ETFs and listed equities.

IBIT position vs. market moves

Although the bank added millions of IBIT shares in Q2, the value of that position declined from roughly $667 million to $549 million by June 30. That decline reflects Bitcoin’s price drop during the quarter rather than a reduction in share count. Institutional allocations to spot Bitcoin ETFs remain sensitive to token price swings even when share counts increase.

Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT): a new in-house product

Alongside larger allocations in competitor funds, Morgan Stanley launched its own Bitcoin ETF during Q2. The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) began trading on NYSE Arca on April 8 with a 0.14% annual management fee. The bank reported 2.57 million MSBT shares in the 13F filing, valued at about $43.3 million on June 30. MSBT’s fee is priced below the 0.25% charged by BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, and one basis point below the 0.15% Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust rate at launch.

Despite launching MSBT, Morgan Stanley’s larger allocations remained in competitors’ ETFs. The IBIT position reported at quarter-end was more than 12 times the dollar value of the MSBT stake listed on the 13F. The contrast highlights how large institutions can simultaneously offer proprietary products while maintaining exposure through established asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity.

Ether and Solana: expanding crypto ETF exposure

Morgan Stanley also increased exposure to Ethereum and Solana through multiple fund positions. The bank’s holding in BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust rose by roughly 202% to about 4.6 million shares. It also reported around 5.1 million shares of the Grayscale Ethereum Staking Mini ETF, an approximate 26% increase from Q1.

Solana exposure appeared through two new positions: roughly $4.25 million in Grayscale’s Solana Staking ETF and about $2.26 million in the Fidelity Solana Fund. These additions preceded Morgan Stanley’s launch of in-house Ethereum and Solana exchange-traded products on July 28 under the MSSE and MSOL tickers. Both MSSE and MSOL charge a 0.14% annual fee and incorporate staking provisions—regulatory filings indicate the Ethereum product may stake 50%–80% of its ETH while the Solana product may stake up to 100% of SOL.

For U.S. retail and institutional clients, these 13F entries represent exposure to digital assets through securities tradable in brokerage accounts rather than direct on-chain ownership of Bitcoin, Ether, or Solana. The 13F reports share values on June 30, so token-price moves and portfolio changes after that date are not reflected.

Circle, USDC, and digital infrastructure positions climb

One of the most significant equity additions reported by Morgan Stanley was Circle Internet Financial, the company behind the USDC stablecoin. Morgan Stanley’s reported Circle stake rose from about 1.46 million shares in Q1 to approximately 8.32 million shares at the end of Q2 — an increase of roughly 6.86 million shares. Because Circle is an exchange-listed company, its shares appear on 13F filings rather than being recorded as a direct stablecoin holding.

The filing also showed increased exposure to Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure companies, with additions to holdings in Cipher Digital, Core Scientific, Hut 8, and Bitdeer Technologies. Equity investments in miners and infrastructure providers carry company-specific risks beyond Bitcoin price exposure—including electricity costs, debt levels, hash-rate efficiency, and operational metrics such as mining output and data-center revenue.

What this means for institutional crypto access

Morgan Stanley’s activity coincided with expanded client access to self-directed crypto trading: in July the bank completed a rollout enabling eligible E*TRADE customers to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana for a 0.50% transaction fee through infrastructure provided by Zerohash. The combination of in-house ETFs, larger stakes in third-party crypto ETFs, and equity positions in crypto infrastructure suggests Morgan Stanley is broadening the ways it allows clients to obtain spot crypto exposure within traditional brokerage frameworks.

Reductions and removals: Coinbase, CleanSpark, Bitfarms

Not all crypto-related holdings increased. Morgan Stanley reported about 550,000 fewer Coinbase shares at the end of Q2 compared with March, and its CleanSpark position fell by more than 3.1 million shares. Bitfarms, which appeared in the previous quarter’s filing with roughly 8 million shares, was removed entirely by June 30. These reductions underscore that 13F snapshots can show active rebalancing in response to market conditions or strategic portfolio shifts.

Market implications and concluding thoughts

Morgan Stanley’s increasing stake in BlackRock’s IBIT and its growing positions across Ether, Solana, Circle, and mining equities reflect a broader trend: major financial institutions are deepening crypto allocations while offering diverse access points for clients. The combined pattern — buying into competitor ETFs while launching proprietary products — indicates an industry moving toward multi-channel crypto distribution.

Investors should remember the limitations of 13F data: it provides quarter-end security holdings denominated in U.S.-listed instruments, not a ledger of token-level ownership on blockchains. Nonetheless, the filing offers valuable insight into how asset managers, custodians, and legacy banks are positioning themselves around spot Bitcoin ETFs, Ether ETFs, staking-enabled products, and crypto-related equities.

As ETF competition heats up and staking products proliferate, monitoring institutional filings, ETF flows, and on-chain metrics will remain important for investors tracking adoption, liquidity, and market structure in the evolving crypto ecosystem.