Morgan Stanley’s newly launched spot Bitcoin ETF is already making waves, overtaking a long-standing competitor in less than a week of trading.

The Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT) has surpassed the WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (WBTC) in total net inflows, highlighting strong early demand for the product.

Rapid Inflows Push MSBT Ahead

On Wednesday, MSBT recorded $19.3 million in new inflows, bringing its total to $103 million since launching on April 8.

That figure now exceeds WisdomTree’s WBTC, which has accumulated $86 million in inflows since its debut in January 2024.

The rapid growth underscores how quickly newer ETF offerings can gain traction in the increasingly competitive Bitcoin investment space.

Competitive Pricing Drives Demand

One of the key factors behind MSBT’s early success appears to be its pricing.

The fund launched with a fee of just 0.14%, making it one of the lowest-cost options available. It even slightly undercuts the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF by one basis point.

This aggressive pricing strategy may be helping Morgan Stanley attract investors looking for cheaper exposure to Bitcoin.

Competing With Industry Leaders

Despite its strong start, MSBT still trails the largest players in the market.

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) remains the dominant ETF, with $64.3 billion in net inflows, followed by Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund at $10.9 billion.

Other competitors include offerings from Bitwise, ARK 21Shares, and Grayscale.

However, if current momentum continues, MSBT could soon challenge mid-tier funds such as the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO), Valkyrie Bitcoin ETF (BRRR), and the Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC), which have accumulated between $245 million and $375 million in inflows.

More Institutions Enter the Bitcoin ETF Race

The surge in activity comes as more traditional financial firms move into the Bitcoin ETF market.

Just this week, Goldman Sachs filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to launch its own Bitcoin-linked ETF, signaling continued institutional interest in the sector.

ETF Market Becoming More Competitive

The broader ETF landscape is also evolving rapidly.

A recent Bloomberg report found that the average lifespan of ETFs has declined from 4.66 years in 2024 to around 3.5 years in 2025.

More than 40 ETFs were liquidated in the first two months of 2026 alone, with an average lifespan of just 21 months. However, none of the closures involved major crypto ETFs.

Analysts expect competition to intensify further, with many crypto-related exchange-traded products potentially facing closure by 2027 if they fail to attract sufficient investor demand.

Strong Start, But Long-Term Test Ahead

Morgan Stanley’s early success shows how quickly new entrants can disrupt the market, especially with competitive pricing and strong brand recognition.

However, sustaining that momentum will depend on continued inflows and the fund’s ability to compete with established leaders in the Bitcoin ETF space.

World Liberty Financial, the Trump family-backed crypto platform, is facing strong criticism after proposing a new token unlock plan that could keep early investors’ holdings locked for years.

The proposal, shared on the platform’s governance forum on Wednesday, outlines a revised schedule that would extend lockups for World Liberty Financial (WLFI) tokens.

New Proposal Extends Lockups

Under the plan, early investors would see their tokens locked for an additional two years, followed by a gradual release in phases over the next two years.

However, the most controversial aspect is that investors who reject the proposal could have their tokens locked indefinitely, a clause that has sparked widespread concern.

Justin Sun Slams Proposal

Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, a major investor and adviser to the project, publicly criticized the plan, calling it “one of the most absurd governance scams” he has encountered.

Sun said he holds roughly a 4% stake in World Liberty Financial, which is currently frozen. He also raised concerns about being unable to participate in the voting process due to restrictions on his tokens.

He further accused the platform of coercion, pointing to the indefinite lockup clause as a major red flag.

Wider Criticism From Industry Figures

Other voices in the crypto space have also pushed back against the proposal.

Simon Dedic, founder of Moonrock Capital, argued that early investors who believed they were holding profitable positions have effectively been “rugged” by the new terms.

He suggested the plan could be an attempt to extract more value from existing investors while aligning with broader political timelines.

Platform Defends Proposal

World Liberty Financial has not directly addressed the criticism but defended the proposal through a spokesperson, who said the changes are intended to better align participants in the ecosystem for long-term growth.

Voting on the proposal is expected to begin soon and will run for one week.

Token Performance Under Pressure

The controversy comes as WLFI’s price performance remains weak.

The token has traded flat at around $0.08 over the past 24 hours but is down more than 40% since the start of the year. It has also dropped over 75% from its all-time high of $0.33, recorded on its first day of public trading after becoming transferable.

Governance Concerns Grow

The situation highlights ongoing concerns around governance in crypto projects, particularly when major decisions directly impact investor access to funds.

With voting set to begin, the outcome of the proposal could play a significant role in shaping investor confidence in the platform moving forward.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has warned that China already has the infrastructure and computing power needed to train advanced AI models comparable to Anthropic’s Claude Mythos, raising concerns about potential cybersecurity risks.

Speaking on the Dwarkesh Patel podcast, Huang said the level of compute used to train Mythos is not particularly rare and is already widely available in China.

China’s AI Infrastructure Is “Abundant”

Huang emphasized that the type of hardware and capacity required to build a model like Mythos is not out of reach for China.

“The amount of capacity and the type of compute it was trained on is abundantly available in China,” he said, adding that the country already has access to the necessary chips and infrastructure.

He pointed out that China has significant unused data center capacity, describing it as having “enormous” compute resources, including fully powered but underutilized facilities.

According to Huang, China’s broader advantages include producing around 60% of the world’s mainstream chips, having a large share of global AI researchers, and access to substantial energy resources.

Rising Concerns Over AI and Cybersecurity

The warning comes amid growing concerns about the capabilities of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos model.

The AI system has demonstrated the ability to identify thousands of software vulnerabilities across major operating systems and browsers. Reports suggest that a large portion of these vulnerabilities remain unpatched, increasing the risk of exploitation.

Security researchers have also found that the model can autonomously execute complex, multi-step cyberattacks, tasks that would typically take human experts days to complete.

If a similar model were developed and misused, it could pose serious risks to global cybersecurity, particularly for institutions relying on outdated systems.

Call for Cooperation Over Confrontation

Despite the concerns, Huang cautioned against treating China purely as an adversary.

While acknowledging geopolitical tensions, he argued that collaboration and dialogue around AI development may be a more effective approach to managing risks.

“We want the United States to win,” Huang said, “but having research dialogue is probably the safest path forward.”

US Officials Highlight AI Competition

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently described Claude Mythos as a major leap forward in AI capabilities, suggesting it strengthens the US position in the global AI race.

However, the rapid pace of development on both sides underscores the competitive and high-stakes nature of the sector.

Growing Evidence of AI Misuse

Concerns about misuse are not purely theoretical. Anthropic previously reported that a China-linked group attempted to exploit its AI coding tools to target dozens of global organizations, succeeding in some cases.

As AI systems become more powerful and accessible, experts warn that the line between innovation and risk is becoming increasingly thin.