Morgan Stanley Chooses Coinbase And BNY Mellon For Its Bitcoin ETF

• Morgan Stanley filed an amended registration statement for its Bitcoin Trust, aiming to offer investors Bitcoin exposure through brokerage accounts.
• The ETF will hold Bitcoin directly and track its price using the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4 PM New York Settlement Rate.
• The filing outlines a custody structure using primarily offline cold storage to reduce hacking risks.

Morgan Stanley filed an amended registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday for its Bitcoin Trust.

According to the S1 filing, Coinbase Custody Trust Company will serve as the Bitcoin custodian to safeguard Morgan Stanley’s digital assets. The filing also states that BNY Mellon will be the administrator and transfer agent, handling the fund's accounting and shareholder services.

On January 6, Morgan Stanley filed for the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, making it the first US bank to do so. The bank also filed for a Solana ETF at the same time. The SEC filing shows that the ETF's goal is to give investors access to Bitcoin through regular brokerage accounts without requiring them to own the cryptocurrency directly. 

The trust would own Bitcoin and issue shares whose value changes with Bitcoin's price. This would let both institutional and retail investors buy Bitcoin through the regulated ETF framework. 

Custody Structure And Pricing Mechanism

The filing outlined a custody structure aligned with institutional standards. Bitcoin held by the trust would primarily be stored in offline cold-storage vaults, where private keys would remain disconnected from the internet to reduce the risk of hacking. Some assets may be temporarily moved to trading wallets during ETF share creation or redemption activity.

Previously, Morgan Stanley had applied for a national trust bank charter to hold cryptocurrencies directly for its institutional clients. If the charter is approved, Morgan Stanley would be able to compete directly with crypto-native custodians. 

The trust also noted that custody insurance was maintained but shared across multiple clients and may not cover all potential losses. According to the filing, the ETF would calculate its net asset value using the CoinDesk Bitcoin Benchmark 4 PM New York Settlement Rate, which would aggregate trade data from major spot exchanges to determine Bitcoin’s daily reference price.

Read also: Bitcoin ETFs See Highest Drawdown Since Launch While BTC Reclaims $71,000

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