Morgan Stanley Enters the Bitcoin ETF Race

On April 8, 2026, Morgan Stanley became the first Wall Street bank to launch its own Bitcoin ETF. Under the ticker MSBT, the fund drew approximately $34 million in net inflows on its first day and surpassed $100 million within its first week. This made MSBT the firm's most successful ETF launch to date.

Morgan Stanley is looking to compete on cost by undercutting BlackRock’s dominant IBIT Bitcoin ETF. MSBT charges a 0.14% expense ratio compared to IBIT which carries a 0.25% expense ratio. Morgan Stanley's wealth management arm, with approximately 16,000 advisors, has also recommended clients allocate 2% to 4% of their portfolios to crypto. While not yet approved, the bank has also filed for Ethereum and Solana trusts which are the beginning signals of more ETFs to come.

Our Take

Since launching in January 2024, BlackRock’s IBIT has dominated the spot Bitcoin ETF category. Morgan Stanley's entry changes that dynamic. The fee undercut matters at the margins, but in our opinion the distribution angle is what’s worth focusing on. When 16,000 financial advisors begin recommending an allocation to crypto, even if it's small, a very real structural inflow is set in motion. With Ethereum and Solana trust filings in motion as well, two things are clear. The first is digital assets have cleared Morgan Stanley’s internal compliance, legal, and reputational hurdles. Secondly, MSBT is not a one-off product launch. Morgan Stanley is showing their plans to commit to the broader digital asset category.

Visa Expands Stablecoin Settlement to Nine Blockchains

Visa first experimented with stablecoin settlement in 2021, and by late 2025 was running a pilot with integrations across the Ethereum, Stellar, Solana, and Avalanche blockchains. The pilot capability allows Visa's issuer and acquirer partners, the banks and fintechs on both sides of a card transaction, to settle their obligations to Visa's network in stablecoins rather than through traditional banking rails. On April 29, 2026, Visa added five more blockchains, Arc, Base, Canton, Polygon, and Tempo, bringing the total to nine supported networks. This will push the annualized settlement run rate to $7 billion, a 50% increase in live transaction volume compared to the prior quarter.

Our Take

This announcement is yet another example of the “DeFi Mullet” in action: a traditional finance business in the front, with the benefits of crypto-based infrastructure in the back. By taking this path, Visa can offer several benefits to its banking and fintech partners including: settlement that is available 24/7/365, near-instant funds movement, and a more predictable liquidity management environment. All this is being achieved without changing anything at the consumer layer. Our thesis is that over the next 5+ years, we’ll see a meaningful portion of payments move from traditional banking rails to crypto-based infrastructure. We’re positioned accordingly, and this announcement gives us further conviction in that view.

Strategy Overtakes IBIT BTC Holdings

Strategy (MSTR) now holds 818,334 BTC after a $2.54 billion purchase in mid-April and a subsequent $255 million purchase, surpassing BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) to become the world's largest single Bitcoin holder. Funding the accumulation is STRC, Strategy's variable-rate perpetual preferred stock launched in July 2025\. STRC is a yield-bearing security designed to trade near $100, pays 11.5% in monthly dividends, and has raised over $6 billion since launch. STRC-funded purchases account for roughly 77,000 BTC in 2026, versus 8,000 BTC across all spot Bitcoin ETFs combined. It also marks the first time since Q2 2024 that a corporate treasury holds more BTC than the largest spot ETF.

Our Take

Strategy increasingly operates as a Bitcoin investment bank. STRC, STRK, STRD, and STRF make up a product shelf engineered to convert distinct slices of TradFi capital into BTC accumulation. STRC has been the breakout because it gives fixed-income buyers a stable, yield-bearing instrument they can hold inside a familiar wrapper. That opens up a pool of capital outside the reach of spot ETFs. We view this as a meaningful expansion of Bitcoin's addressable demand base. As BTC keeps getting adapted to capital markets infrastructure, more investor mandates can carry Bitcoin exposure inside vehicles they already understand. However, there are risks. STRC's funding flywheel depends on continued issuance demand, a healthy MSTR equity premium, and disciplined management of the dividend rate. The model has yet to be tested through a deep, sustained drawdown.

About Triple Point Strategy

Triple Point Strategy is a research firm and crypto investment manager. We operate the Marietta DeFi Fund, a crypto investment fund that is focused on capital appreciation and DeFi-native income strategies. It is currently available to U.S. accredited investors. Subscribe below to receive our latest insights directly in your inbox.

For U.S. accredited investors only. Offered under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or tax advice. This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security. Any investment may only be made through the Fund's confidential offering documents. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of capital. Digital assets are volatile and subject to changing regulations.