Morgan Stanley Authorizes Advisors To Offer Bitcoin ETF Products, Report

Morgan Stanley, one of the largest investment banks in the United States, has announced that it will soon allow its 15,000 financial advisors to offer Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund) products to eligible clients. 

Interestingly, this is the first time a major Wall Street bank has given its wealth management division the green light to promote crypto-based investment products.

According to a CNBC report, sources familiar with the policy change said that Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to urge clients to buy shares of two specific Bitcoin ETFs – BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC). The new offering will reportedly go live on Wednesday, August 7.

Morgan Stanley’s decision reflects growing investor demand for exposure to the cryptocurrency market. The firm noted that the move is a response to its clients’ appetite, as well as an effort to stay ahead of the booming digital asset landscape.

However, Morgan Stanley is taking a cautious approach with its Bitcoin ETF rollout. The bank is restricting eligibility to clients with a net worth of at least $1.5 million, an “aggressive” risk tolerance, and the desire to make speculative investments. 

Additionally, CNBC reported that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds will only be available in taxable brokerage accounts, not retirement accounts. The bank will also closely monitor clients’ overall crypto holdings to ensure they do not become overly exposed to the highly volatile asset class. 

Currently, the only crypto investments approved for purchase at Morgan Stanley are the two Bitcoin ETFs and private funds from Galaxy and FS NYDIG, which were made available starting in 2021.

According to data from SoSo Value, the total net inflow for Bitcoin spot ETFs on Thursday reached $50.64 million. This was driven by a significant $191 million net inflow into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust mini ETF, as well as a $25.9 million net inflow into BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF. However, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust’s primary ETF (GBTC) saw a net outflow of $71.3 million on the same day.

After opening the week at around $70,000, the Bitcoin price pulled back steadily over the course of last week to the $62,750 level on Friday. This retracement prevented Bitcoin from consolidating above the key resistance level of $70,000, which is crucial on BTC’s path back to its all-time high of $73,700 reached in mid-March.

Despite this, there were signs of underlying strength, as CoinGecko data showed a 25% increase in Bitcoin’s 24-hour trading volume, reaching $46.9 billion.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com