Morgan Stanley to Offer Bitcoin ETFs to Wealthy Clients: CNBC

Morgan Stanley is taking this step in response to requests from its clients.

The approval of Bitcoin ETFs in January raised hopes that financial institutions would dip their deep pockets into the cryptocurrency.

Large firms often have to go through lengthy compliance and review processes before approving funds to be offered to their clients.

Advisers at Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley (MS) will be able to offer Bitcoin {{BTC}} exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to their wealthy clients starting Wednesday, CNBC reported.

Morgan Stanley is allowing more than 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell shares of BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC, CNBC reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The clients will be required to have a net worth of at least $1.5 million.

The approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. in January raised hopes that the investment vehicles would draw deep pockets of financial institutions into the cryptocurrency. But large firms such as Morgan Stanley typically go through lengthy compliance and review processes before approving funds for their clients.

The report stated that the bank, which stated that its assets under management were $1.5 trillion, took this step upon the request of customers.

Morgan Stanley held $269.9 million in assets in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) as of March 31, which could indicate that the firm plans to offer an ETF to its clients at some point.

The bank did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

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