Morgan Stanley turned from doubters to believers and has now invested significant capital in Bitcoin [BTC].
The bank has been aggressively accumulating BTC lately. According to Arkham data, Morgan Stanley bought 177.76 Bitcoin worth $13.75 million on April 18.
With the latest purchase, the company increased its Bitcoin holdings to 1,347.54 BTC, worth $103.94 million. The continued purchases indicate the institution’s confidence in crypto and its future potential.
Historically, positive favor from major market players has been good for Bitcoin’s price performance.
Institutions return to Bitcoin
The Coinbase Premium Index has remained positive for ten straight days, marking its longest streak YTD. The last time Coinbase printed such a range was in December 2025, when Bitcoin was strongly above $90,000.
The inflows of Bitcoin’s Spot ETF prove this rising institutional demand. It is striking that the net inflow has been positive over the past four days.
On April 18, Spot ETF inflows rose to a three-month high of $663.9 million, due to increased capital flows.
Amid this resurgence in ETF inflows, Morgan Stanley’s new spot ETF (MSBT) has registered massive demand. MSBT inflows rose to $102 million in the first week of trading, with total assets exceeding $140 million.
This increase marks Morgan Stanley’s most successful ETF launch in the bank’s history. The launch of MSBT is the latest phase of the company’s embrace of Bitcoin.
What about BTC?
Rising institutional demand has significantly boosted Bitcoin’s upward momentum. BTC has been trading in an uptrend for the past two weeks, a period coinciding with increased institutional demand.
Bitcoin even hit a two-month high of $78,317 before rebounding somewhat. At the time of writing, the king coin was trading at $77,257, up 3.15% from the daily charts.
With the price increase, Bitcoin has reversed the 20-, 50-, and 100-day EMAs, indicating strong upside momentum. At the same time, the Stochastic Momentum Index (SMI) rose to 70, further confirming the strength of the trend.
If institutional demand, especially from US investors, continues, BTC will successfully reverse the USD 80,000 resistance and target USD 82,938. However, if the current attempt fails, BTC will seek support around $72,584.
Final summary
- Morgan Stanley purchased 177.76 BTC worth $13.75 million, increasing the total holdings to 1,347.54 BTC worth $103.94 million.
- MSBT saw inflows of more than $102 million, increasing its asset value to $140 million.