Crypto Currents: Morgan Stanley’s bitcoin ETF logs $34M debut

Thursday’s session picks up where Wednesday’s ceasefire rally left off, with bitcoin (BTC-USD) trading near $71,641 and sitting roughly $360 below the $72,000 level that CoinGlass estimates would trigger $2.5B in cascading short liquidations. The derivatives coil arrives as Wall Street’s institutional infrastructure build-out accelerates: Morgan Stanley’s BMNR” style=””>(BMNR) is making its debut on the NYSE main board. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with “Crypto Currents,” daily from The Fly. Join us at 2 PM ET for your essential briefing on the fast-moving world of cryptocurrency on FlyCast radio.

MSBT LOGS $34M IN DAY-ONE INFLOWS AS WALL STREET’S BITCOIN EMBRACE HOLDS: Morgan Stanley’s spot bitcoin ETF drew approximately $34M in net inflows on its inaugural trading day across over 1.6M shares traded, making it the first such product from a major Wall Street bank and the cheapest in the market at a 0.14% expense ratio. The broader spot bitcoin ETF complex saw $124.5M leave incumbent funds simultaneously, meaning MSBT attracted fresh capital as the cohort faced net outflows. Bloomberg’s April 9 newsletter frames the institutional picture more broadly, noting that Wall Street’s structural embrace of bitcoin remains intact even as speculative retail enthusiasm has cooled. The newsletter’s framing carries weight for equity investors tracking crypto-adjacent names: sustained institutional demand at the infrastructure layer, custody, settlement, and ETF distribution, can support revenue lines at firms like Coinbase even during periods of subdued retail activity.

BITMINE UPLISTS TO NYSE MAIN BOARD AND EXPANDS BUYBACK TO $4B: Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the ether (ETH-USD) treasury company chaired by Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, began trading on the NYSE main board Thursday after transferring from NYSE American. According to a company release, the company simultaneously expanded its share repurchase authorization from $1B to $4B, described as one of the ten largest buyback programs announced in 2026 per Fundstrat, while holding approximately 4.803M ether, representing roughly 3.98% of total ether supply, with total crypto and cash holdings of $11.4B. The NYSE uplisting is being closely watched as a benchmark for whether an ether treasury strategy can attract mainstream institutional capital at the same scale that Strategy’s DERIVATIVES COIL TIGHTENS; HYPERLIQUID OIL VOLUME TOPS BITCOIN FOR FIRST TIME: Per CoinGlass, bitcoin futures open interest climbed 7.01% in 24 hours to $52.04B with Binance leading at $8.73B, signaling that leverage is re-accumulating rapidly in the aftermath of Wednesday’s $427M short squeeze. Ether futures open interest surged 11.93% in the same window to $31.62B, creating a fragile leverage stack with an estimated $810M in long liquidations clustered below $1,952, directly relevant to spot ether ETF AUM mechanics and Coinbase’s derivatives revenue line.

On Hyperliquid, combined WTI and Brent crude perpetuals hit $2.45B in 24-hour volume on Thursday, surpassing bitcoin perpetuals at $2.29B on that platform for the first time, a result reflecting macro traders routing commodity exposure through on-chain perpetual DEXs on a day when oil crashed more than 16% following the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, and positioning Hyperliquid’s HYPE (HYPE-USD) token as a live barometer of traditional finance crossover demand for on-chain derivatives infrastructure.

BITMEX REPORTS 500%+ SURGE IN TOKENIZED COMMODITY AND EQUITY PERPETUALS: A company release shows that BitMEX’s Q1 2026 derivatives report found that tokenized commodity perpetuals surged more than 500% quarter-over-quarter while tokenized equity perpetuals grew 900% to $4.9B in weekly volume, driven by traditional finance crossover demand for on-chain exposure to conventional asset classes. The data provides a quantitative frame for the structural shift that Hyperliquid’s oil volume milestone illustrates: traditional financial instruments are migrating to on-chain perpetual venues at an accelerating rate, with direct competitive implications for centralized exchange operators like Coinbase and BullishBITCOIN DEPOT DISCLOSES $3.6M HACK; BITCOIN BANCORP LAUNCHES CALIFORNIA ATM ROLLOUT: Bitcoin Depotdisclosed that attackers breached its IT systems on March 23, stealing 50.9 BTC worth approximately $3.665M by compromising digital asset settlement account credentials before being locked out, at least the company’s second known security event following a 2023 user data breach affecting 58,000 customers. The disclosure arrives on the same day that Bitcoin Bancorp announced an expansion into the space. Bitcoin Bancorp, one of only three publicly traded bitcoin ATM operators and holder of foundational bitcoin ATM patents, launched the initial Southern California deployment of its licensed ATM network as the next phase of its national expansion strategy.

SOLUNA COMMISSIONS 48MW PROJECT KATI; BITGO POWERS ANDX U.S. LAUNCH: Soluna Holdings reported that its Project Kati 1 K1A Galaxy facility, a 48 MW bitcoin hosting and mining site, was fully commissioned ahead of schedule in March, while the company is in active hyperscaler negotiations for the AI and HPC-focused Project Kati 2, with its total development pipeline now surpassing 4.3 gigawatts. According to a press release, BitGo GREENLANE HOLDS 32% OF BERA SUPPLY AND AUTHORIZES $2M BUYBACK: According to a company press release, Greenlane Holdings EMPD” style=””>(EMPD) the prior session, contrasting with the equity issuance posture of most smaller crypto-adjacent names.

BITWISE LISTS HYPERLIQUID STAKING ETP IN FRANKFURT; BLACKROCK ETF WALLETS MOVE $49M TO COINBASE: According to a press release, Bitwise launched the Bitwise Hyperliquid Staking ETP under the ticker symbol ‘BHYP’ on Deutsche Börse Xetra in Frankfurt, offering regulated access to the HYPE token with an expected net staking yield of approximately 1% and a total expense ratio of 0.85%, marking Bitwise’s seventh staking ETP; on-chain data also shows a purchase of 67,648 HYPE tokens for approximately $2.6M by large wallets flagged by Lookonchain Wednesday, confirming active accumulation. Separately, Arkham Intelligence data showed BlackRock’s PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin was trading at $71,490.96, while ether was trading at $2,190.08, according to price data from TipRanks.