Bitcoin [BTC] erased last week’s gains as traders de-risked before and after the Fed’s March 18 interest rate decision.
After surging 15% to a local high of $76,000, boosted in part by the escalating crisis in West Asia, BTC reversed course and fell 10% over the past three days. And ETF investors led the risk-off movement.
In the days that followedthe Spot BTC ETFs included a net outflow of $323 million, breaking the inflow streak of the last seven trading days.
But BTC’s pullback has since reached a key 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA, blue), with a new support zone just above $65,000. These could provide a new base for bulls to regroup, but it is unclear whether the levels will be defended before next week’s mega quarterly option expiration.
Morgan Stanley files an amended S-1 for spot BTC ETF filing
Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley has filed an amended S-1 filing with the SEC, including the MSBT ticker for its spot BTC ETF filing.
In his initial application in January, the bank listed Coinbase and BNY Mellon as custodians. Coinbase would provide the prime brokerage, while Mellon would act as custodian.
If approved, Morgan Stanley would be the first major US bank to directly issue its spot BTC ETF. It would join Canada’s Scotia Bank, which has also opted to offer crypto ETF products directly.
For Morgan Stanley, cryptocurrency adoption was “still early,” with Amy Odelnburg, the firm’s head of crypto strategy, noting that current demand is only coming from self-directed investors and not from accounts managed by advisors.
Even the distribution of these ETFs, about 80% of what we see on our platform, comes through self-directed activities.
For his part, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that the amendment meant that MSBT would debut soon.
Paul Atkins Clarifies SEC’s Interpretation of Crypto Assets
Finally, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins clarified the agency’s crypto plans following the recent clarification interpretation of crypto assets, which considered most digital assets as non-securities.
For Atkins, this was “just the beginning,” stating that the directive would act as a bridge as Congress attempts to advance the broader market structure bill, the CLARITY Act.
He added,
Our rules must be clear enough to guide markets, flexible enough to enable innovation and strong enough to protect investors.
But he cautioned that the “token taxonomy” is just the agency’s interpretation, and the court could challenge it or “deviate” from it. Still, he promised to follow up on the guidance with a proposed rule and a waiver sandbox to promote innovation.
We will soon be submitting a proposed rule to put much more of this into practice. And build a set of exceptions, similar to a sandbox where people can experiment and develop a proof-of-concept for their products.
Final summary
- BTC’s pullback narrowed to $70,000 after risky move led by ETF investors following $323 million outflow
- The SEC chairman said the agency will soon propose rules regarding the recent interpretation of the crypto-asset framework.