Morgan Stanley is inching closer to launching the first spot Bitcoin ETF issued by a major US bank, a move that underscores just how far the cryptocurrency has traveled from its wild early days.
The bank recently received an official NYSE listing notice for its fund, MSBT — a step that analysts say typically signals a debut is near.
Wall Street’s Deepening Embrace
That development arrives alongside fresh data from Charles Schwab showing Bitcoin’s price swings have dropped sharply over the past four years.
According to the firm’s analysis, Bitcoin’s historical volatility hit 42% in 2025 — roughly half what it recorded in 2021. For context, Tesla’s historical volatility came in at 63% that same year.
Nvidia’s was 50%. Both exceeded Bitcoin’s. Measures of daily price movement told a similar story, with Bitcoin tracking closer to major equities than the volatile fringe asset it once resembled.
Schwab concluded the shift reflects Bitcoin’s deeper integration into mainstream finance, now trading on major exchanges worldwide through regulated products and ETF wrappers. The report described Bitcoin’s volatility as having “calmed down” as it matured.
Still, calm is relative. Bitcoin dropped as much as 30% in 2025, with losses carrying into early 2026. Over a three-year stretch, the asset fell 50% from peak to trough.
Those numbers are significant by almost any measure — but not unique. Tesla’s worst drawdown over the same period hit 54%. Nvidia fell 37% at its low point. The data suggests high-growth technology stocks can swing just as hard, or harder, than Bitcoin on a bad run.
The Long View Tells A Different Story
Zoom out further and Bitcoin’s profile grows more extreme. During the 2022 market downturn, Bitcoin fell 77% from its peak. Tesla dropped 74%. Nvidia lost 66%. The losses were steep across the board, but Bitcoin’s were steeper.
Schwab also put Bitcoin up against commodities. Silver futures often moved more erratically on a day-to-day basis, despite recording smaller overall declines.
Gold, by contrast, posted steadier gains at lower volatility — a clear reminder that Bitcoin, whatever its trajectory, still operates in a different risk class from traditional safe-haven assets.
Within crypto markets, Bitcoin’s relative stability has grown more noticeable. Ethereum continues to trade with higher volatility and deeper drawdowns, and the gap between the two assets has widened since 2021.
A Benchmark Shift In The Making
The Schwab report lands as Bitcoin increasingly gets measured against blue-chip equities rather than speculative assets. Whether that framing sticks may depend on how the asset behaves through the next major market stress test — a question the data cannot yet answer.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
