Key Takeaways:
- Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley reveals it held bitcoin products in Q3
- Bitcoin exposure highlights the bank’s rotation to digital assets
Morgan Stanley Owned Bitcoin Products in Q3
Investment giant Morgan Stanley revealed in its latest filings with the SEC it had added exposure to Bitcoin. More precisely, several funds owned by the bank held bitcoin products through the third quarter of the year.
In detail, the Securities and Exchange Commission says for the period ending September 30, Morgan Stanley’s Growth Portfolio Fund owned bitcoin products. Namely, the fund added 1.5 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
Additionally, another fund, the Insight Fund, held nearly 600,000 shares of the same over the period.
It doesn’t end there. Further, a few other Morgan Stanley funds invested in bitcoin products. The step highlights the shifting perspective of the bank toward digital assets, and bitcoin in particular.
Not long ago, in October, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said cryptocurrencies are not “a fad.” Moreover, he believes digital assets and crypto investments, including bitcoin, have growth potential.
The Bank Joins Other Wall Street Mainstays Who Embrace Crypto
Morgan Stanley, a top bank on Wall Street, appears to be taking steps to embrace bitcoin and crypto markets. The banking giant joins other Wall Street mainstays in jumping onto the crypto bandwagon.
So far, every major investment bank, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, has said they see waves of client demand for crypto.
To this end, mainstream adoption of bitcoin and other digital assets is expected to continue. Not only that, but with roughly 400 million people using or owning cryptos, the market is still relatively small. For that reason, many traders and investors use the opportunity to buy bitcoin under $60,000 per coin.
For comparison, the combined worth of US stocks is over $51 trillion. Additionally, the global gold market is estimated at about $12 trillion.
Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, are worth roughly $2.5 trillion, or the same as the world’s biggest company by value, Microsoft.