Morgan Stanley has outlined plans for a spot Bitcoin ETF called Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust that will hold Bitcoin directly and track its price, with Coinbase Custody Trust Company and BNY Mellon engaged for custody and administrative roles, according to an updated SEC filing. The filing states that most of the Bitcoin backing the passive vehicle will be stored offline in cold storage by Coinbase and BNY Mellon, while some assets may temporarily sit in trading accounts during net creation and redemption to let authorized participants swap cash and Bitcoin. The document notes that custody insurance is shared among clients in line with industry practice, and adds that BNY Mellon will handle cash, shareholder records, and transfer oversight. Morgan Stanley, which first filed for the trust in January, has also signaled plans to let E*Trade users trade spot cryptocurrencies and has applied for a national trust bank charter to support direct cryptocurrency holdings for institutional clients, with digital asset strategy head Amy Oldenburg describing custody as a core part of the bank's longterm roadmap.

Bitcoin open interest in derivatives markets reached a 30-day peak above $24.7 billion today as leveraged positioning expanded sharply. The buildup of top-heavy positions is raising the probability of a liquidation squeeze and a corresponding spike in price volatility.

A Shiba Inu named Kimchi became the first dog to ring the Nasdaq opening bell on Feb. 18 in connection with 21Shares' Dogecoin ETF debut under ticker TDOG, House of Doge said. Kimchi was selected through a community campaign on X that generated over 1.2 million impressions, and House of Doge described the event as marking Dogecoin's evolution from a 2013 meme coin to a recognized financial brand now backed by a regulated spot ETF. Dogecoin climbed 13.7% in the past 24 hours to $0.1017 on Wednesday, rebounding from a session low of $0.087 as broader crypto markets recovered.

Morgan Stanley has chosen Coinbase and BNY Mellon to provide custodial services for its planned Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. The selection of these two institutions positions the proposed Bitcoin ETF to leverage established digital asset and traditional custody infrastructure.

The banking lobby has pushed back on assertions that an agreement is near, stating "They keep saying we're close to a deal. We're not close to a deal," in comments recently made to Decrypt White House reporter @sander_lutz. According to Decrypt, the report examines the intensifying standoff between banking and crypto lobbying groups, assesses how this dispute is shaping the Clarity Act, and discusses whether the legislation is likely to pass.

Ethereum's daily active addresses fell 45% from 1,329,193 on Feb. 7 to 746,062 by March 3, despite nearing its all-time high of 1,420,187 addresses recorded on Dec. 9, 2022, Etherscan data show. ETH jumped 6.62% within 24 hours on March 3 to trade at $2,078, while perpetual futures open interest rose 8.8% and funding rates climbed 21%, signaling increased leveraged long positioning. The price later stood at $2,150.35, with an intraday high of $2,153.65 and a low of $1,947.76, as traders watched the $2,000–$2,200 support area and eyed resistance near $2,150 with a potential upside target around $2,300. Technical analysis shows ETH trading below its 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages, with a failure to hold current support potentially exposing downside toward the $1,900 and $1,725 regions.

Bitcoin rose back above $73,000 for the first time since early February, trading up 7% at around $73,200, CoinGecko data show. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds acquired roughly $776 million in BTC last week and around $789 million in the week beginning March 2, market analyst Ali Martinez said on X. Using UTXO Realized Price Distribution, Martinez noted that onchain supply between $72,000 and $81,000 appears comparatively thin, with larger supply clusters around $83,307 and $84,569 that could act as stronger resistance if the rally extends.

President Trump voiced support for the GENIUS Act and CLARITY Act while criticizing U.S. banks, and the SEC asked issuers of 3x, 4x and 5x leveraged ETFs to withdraw their filings, BlockBeats reports. Middle East tensions following a U.S.-Israel strike on Iran lifted the Polymarket probability of a U.S.-Iran war from 22% to 35% and briefly drove oil to $78 per barrel. On the ecosystem side, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called for the network to evolve into "sanctuary technology," Base-based AgentMail enabled AI agents to create email inboxes using USDC, and Solana projects including Phantom, Jupiter and Squads advanced tools spanning AI integration, onchain finance and stablecoin payments.

Scotia Bank, which manages $1.5 trillion in assets, launched an actively managed crypto-focused ETF in Canada. The new fund is designed as an active crypto picking vehicle, according to the bank.