Morgan Stanley’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Pulls In $34M, Iran Wants Crypto Payments for Strait of Hormuz, and Adam Back Denies Being Satoshi

Takeaways

• Morgan Stanley’s spot bitcoin ETF pulls in $34 million: marking a win for the bitcoin ecosystem after months of stalled price action. Trading under the ticker MSBT on the New York Stock Exchange, Morgan Stanley’s spot bitcoin ETF charges a 0.14% expense ratio, making it the lowest-cost bitcoin ETF in a space dominated by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust. The launch coincided with a positive day for crypto, after markets moved higher with the news the US and Iran had reached a ceasefire agreement.
• Adam Back denies being Satoshi following New York Times report: bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder. “I also don't know who satoshi is,” Back said in an X post. “And I think it is good for bitcoin that this is the case, as it helps bitcoin be viewed as a new asset class, the mathematically scarce digital commodity.” Despite numerous attempts, no one has proven Satoshi’s identity since bitcoin was founded in 2008. Satoshi controls about 5% of the total bitcoin supply but has never sold, with more than 1 million BTC stored across multiple addresses that are worth more than $115 billion.
• Iran wants bitcoin payment for ships going through Strait of Hormuz:. Later in the day, Iran closed the Strait entirely following more Israeli attacks in Lebanon. It will reportedly cost ships $1 per barrel of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz when it opens, while ships without oil can pass without paying the newly installed tariff. About 20% of the world’s global oil supply passes through the Strait, making it a critical passage with a sizable impact on Brent crude and WTI oil prices.
• Strategy adds $330 million BTC to treasury: With the latest purchase, Strategy has bought 766,970 BTC for about $58 billion, marking an average buy price of $75,644 per BTC. Strategy now holds about 3.65% of the total 21 million bitcoin supply. The company has nearly $14.46 billion in unrealized losses via digital assets, according to a recent filing. But it remains committed to carrying out aggressive stock sales to purchase more bitcoin.

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