Morgan Stanley boosts Bitcoin exposure by investing in MicroStrategy and BlackRock ETF

• It invested 2.1% of its Institutional Fund in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, IBIT.
• It has a 4% stake in MicroStrategy, too, one of the biggest companies holding Bitcoin in their books.
• With this, financial advisors at Morgan Stanley are now able to offer Bitcoin ETFs to their eligible clients.

Morgan Stanley, Wall Street’s giant and the world’s sixth-largest asset manager, just extended exposure to Bitcoin in a major step towards institutional cryptocurrencies adoption.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated Friday, the company disclosed that its Institutional Fund has weighted 2.1% to net assets on BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, known as IBIT.

The over-$10 million fund has invested more than $210,000 in Bitcoin.

Aside from this investment in BlackRock ETF, Morgan Stanley holds a 4% stake in MicroStrategy, the biggest holder of Bitcoin at a corporate level, holding 226,500 BTC in its treasury.

These two investments illustrate a clear strategy on Morgan Stanley’s part to position itself in the space of growing cryptocurrencies, henceforth betting on appreciation pertaining to Bitcoin as one form of a long-term asset.

The Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund is managed by its Counterpoint Global division, which specializes in finding companies with growth potential.

That decision signals increasing acceptance of such assets in traditional finance.

Probably one of the first well-known large players to recognize the strategic importance of Bitcoin has been Morgan Stanley, which became the first to expand its main product line to regulated products in this emerging market.

Growing adoption of Bitcoin on Wall Street:

This is the latest move in this trend, following an announcement by Morgan Stanley that its financial advisors could now offer their eligible clients access, starting in August, to Bitcoin ETFs such as BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund.

This marks a milestone for the big money centers opening their doors to their traditional clientele in the world of cryptocurrencies through available products overseen by financial regulators.

However, Morgan Stanley has not denied that Bitcoin has some intrinsic volatility.

It has thus set in place mechanisms through which it closely tracks the cryptocurrency holdings of its clients to ensure that they do not build an overly large exposure that might hike their financial risk.

It underlines the cautious but progressive approach of the institution to include Bitcoin in its offering.

If anything, this operation cements confidence in Bitcoin as a valid long-term investment and positions Morgan Stanley as one of the pioneers on the path to mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by traditional finance.

At this rate, with many more banks and asset managers sure to follow, it would appear that Bitcoin is here to stay in the core of institutional investment portfolios for the foreseeable future.

This underlines the cautious but progressive approach to incorporating Bitcoin into the offering of this institution.

The move underlines not only confidence in Bitcoin as a valid long-term investment but also positions Morgan Stanley as one of the pioneers on the road to mass adoption of cryptocurrencies by traditional finance.

Largest asset managers bullish on Bitcoin:

Morgan Stanley is the world’s sixth-largest asset manager with over $1.5 trillion reported in AUM as of April.

On Aug. 2, the asset manager gave the green light for its 15,000 advisors to recommend allocations into US-traded spot Bitcoin ETFs, starting with BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC.

Later in the same month, the firm revealed holding nearly $187 million in IBIT’s shares via a 13F filing to the SEC

FAQ

How much does Morgan Stanley fund has invested?

It invested 2.1% of its Institutional Fund in BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.