Morgan Stanley wants to beat UBS to become first Bitcoin ETF bank

The launch of spot Bitcoin (BTC $67,376) exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the United States has fueled rivalry between investment banks over which will be the first wirehouse to add the products.

Morgan Stanley is hoping to beat UBS in becoming the first wirehouse to fully approve the Bitcoin ETF, crypto enthusiast Andrew (AP_Abacus) reported on X on April 3.

Citing internal Morgan Stanley notes, Andrew said that the bank “may announce a few days before” its move into Bitcoin ETFs.

He also mentioned that global banks have been actively talking about the Bitcoin ETF addition as a race.

Source: Andrew

Bloomberg ETF expert Eric Balchunas added to Andrew’s X thread, noting that neither Morgan Stanley nor UBS have added Bitcoin ETFs, citing a “solid source.”

“Still in a holding pattern, in a compliance game of chicken, waiting for one of them to go first, then gives rest cover. So probably will be an all-at-once type moment when that is the question,” Balchunas suggested.

Prior to posting the new update, Andrew reported that UBS plans to add Bitcoin ETFs to its platform between April 8 and April 12 next week.

The latest speculation about Morgan Stanley’s potential rival move against UBS comes a few weeks after Andrew reported that the bank is set to approve Bitcoin ETFs.

“Several sources confirm that Morgan Stanley is set to approve Bitcoin ETFs on its platform in the next two weeks,” the poster wrote on March 26.

Cointelegraph approached Morgan Stanley and UBS for a comment regarding the potential addition of spot Bitcoin ETFs to their platforms but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs made a historic trading debut in the United States on Jan. 11, after many years of efforts to launch one in the country. Customers of major banks like UBS and Citi subsequently reported not being able to access spot Bitcoin ETFs, with banks citing different reasons to not list those investment products.

A spokesperson close to UBS told Cointelegraph in January that spot Bitcoin ETFs can only be offered in a brokerage account and are only suitable for “aggressive investors.”

“It remains to be seen if the issuers will be able to distinguish themselves in terms of ability to manage the product during turbulent markets,” UBS wrote in an official statement about spot Bitcoin ETFs on Jan. 29.

Some other major banks in the U.S. have continued to maintain skepticism about Bitcoin even after the ETF approval.

“We do not think it is an investment asset class,” Goldman Sachs’ chief investment officer and known Bitcoin skeptic Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani said in an April 2 interview with the Wall Street Journal. “We’re not believers in crypto,” she stated.