Morgan Stanley is reportedly getting involved in a Bitcoin ETF.
Morgan Stanley’s roughly 15,000 advisors can reportedly guide clients in buying shares in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund. CNBC reported the story based on anonymous sources..
Reports of a policy shift by Morgan Stanley, the sixth-largest U.S. bank, come as crypto investors are betting big on Donald Trump winning the presidential election in November, betting he will ease regulations on the industry if he takes the White House.
In January, the SEC approved applications for 11 physical bitcoin ETFs, a move that made it easier for people to invest in them from the same place they manage their other stocks, giving investors a more easily tradable cryptocurrency vehicle.
Most of the major Wall Street banks, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, have banned their financial advisors from promoting a Bitcoin ETF, the report said.
Anonymous sources told CNBC that Morgan Stanley’s shift is an attempt to respond to client demand and keep up with a changing industry.
The policy change comes with conditions: CNBC sources say financial advisors can only approach clients who have a net worth of at least $1.5 million, a high risk tolerance, and are willing to make speculative investments in the new Bitcoin ETF.
The Bitcoin ETF would be intended for taxable brokerage accounts, not retirement accounts, and banks will monitor clients’ crypto holdings to ensure they are not exposed to high volatility, the people told CNBC.
In 2021, Morgan Stanley became the first major U.S. bank to offer a Bitcoin fund to its clients.
The bank phased out its private funds from Galaxy and FS NYDIG earlier this year, according to CNBC.
