Traditional Finance Giants Push Into Crypto ETF Market as Bitcoin Funds See Record-Breaking Inflows

Wall Street Expansion Continues

Morgan Stanley, managing nearly $9 trillion in assets, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch Bitcoin and Solana exchange-traded funds, marking another major Wall Street player's entry into the cryptocurrency investment space ^[2]. The financial giant joins BlackRock and Fidelity as traditional asset managers offering crypto ETF products to institutional investors ^[1].

According to the filing, the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust will function as a passive investment vehicle designed to track Bitcoin's spot price without using leverage or derivatives ^[1]. The Solana Trust will operate similarly while incorporating a staking feature to generate additional yield for investors ^[2].

Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas characterized the move as strategically sound, noting that Morgan Stanley manages approximately $8 trillion in advisory assets and has already authorized advisors to allocate to crypto products ^[1]. "They have like $8T in advisory assets, and they already OK'd those advisors to allocate, so might as well be in their own branded fund vs paying BlackRock or someone else," Balchunas stated ^[1].

Bitcoin ETF Inflows Surge

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded more than $1.2 billion in inflows during the first two trading days of 2026, with nearly all funds participating ^[1]. "The spot Bitcoin ETFs are coming into 2026 like a lion," Balchunas observed ^[1].

If maintained, this pace would translate to $150 billion in annual inflows, representing approximately 600% more than total 2025 inflows ^[1]. Monday alone saw $697 million in net inflows, marking the largest single day in three months as Bitcoin prices stabilized above $90,000 following market turbulence at the end of 2025 ^[1].

Spot Bitcoin ETFs accumulated $21.4 billion in net inflows during 2025, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust capturing the largest share, though this represented a decline from the $35.2 billion recorded in 2024 ^[1]. Currently, twelve spot Bitcoin ETFs hold approximately $123.5 billion in assets, representing nearly 7% of Bitcoin's total market value ^[2].

Chainlink ETF Receives Regulatory Approval

The SEC approved Bitwise's Chainlink ETF for listing on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol CLNK, with trading expected to commence this week ^[3]. Bitwise submitted the S-1 form for the Chainlink ETF in August as the first provider to do so ^[3].

The fund will offer a complete fee waiver for the first three months on assets up to $500 million, after which the management fee will be set at 0.34% ^[3]. Chainlink operates as a decentralized oracle network connecting blockchains with external data sources, with its native LINK token used for paying data providers and securing the network through staking ^[3].

Bitwise has rapidly expanded its crypto ETF offerings after successfully launching a Solana ETF in 2025, followed by products tracking XRP and Dogecoin ^[3]. The asset manager recently filed for additional ETFs covering Aave, NEAR, Sui, Uniswap, Tron, Zcash, Bittensor, Ethena, Starknet, Hyperliquid, and Canton ^[3].

Market Structure Implications

Fabian Dori, Chief Investment Officer at Sygnum, emphasized that renewed ETF demand carries increasing significance for market structure ^[1]. He noted that ETF demand is steadily absorbing circulating supply, suggesting a potential long-term demand shock rather than short-term speculative flows ^[1].

Solana spot ETFs, which launched in October, have already attracted $1.09 billion in assets, equivalent to approximately 1.4% of SOL's market capitalization ^[2]. Morgan Stanley would become the ninth issuer in the Solana ETF market if approved ^[2].