Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Capital on Friday told its army of financial advisers that it will soon allow them to offer bitcoin exchange-traded funds to some clients, a first among major Wall Street banks, CNBC has learned.
The firm’s 15,000 financial advisers can ask eligible clients to buy shares in two bitcoin exchange-traded funds starting Wednesday, according to people familiar with the policy.
This money is Black Rock iShares Bitcoin Trust and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, as people say.
The move by Morgan Stanley, one of the world’s largest wealth managers, is the latest sign of bitcoin’s adoption by mainstream financial institutions. In January, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved applications for 11 bitcoin exchange-traded funds, heralding the emergence of a bitcoin investment vehicle that is more accessible, cheaper to own and easier to trade.
Bitcoin It has weathered market sell-offs, the stunning collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and criticism from some of the most established figures in the world of finance including J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.
So it's no surprise that Wall Street's biggest wealth management firms were not immediately receptive to the new ETFs, barring their financial advisers from promoting them and allowing trading only if clients actively sought out the product.
Goldman SachsJPMorgan, American bank And Wells Fargo The four banks still follow this policy, according to their spokesmen.
“aggressive tolerance”
Morgan Stanley made the move in response to client demand and in an effort to keep pace with an evolving market for digital assets, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing internal policies at the bank.
But the bank remains cautious about its offering: Only clients with a net worth of at least $1.5 million, a high tolerance for risk and a willingness to make speculative investments are eligible to offer the bitcoin ETF, the people said. The investments are intended for taxable brokerage accounts, not retirement accounts, they added.
According to the sources, the bank will monitor clients' cryptocurrency holdings to ensure they are not overexposed to the volatile asset class.
The only crypto investments approved for purchase at Morgan Stanley are the pair of Bitcoin ETFs and the Galaxy and FS NYDIG private funds that the bank made available starting in 2021.
Morgan Stanley is monitoring how the market for newly approved exchange-traded funds develops, and has not yet committed to whether it will offer access to those funds, the people said.
