Morgan Stanley Deepens Crypto Exposure Thanks to Grayscale Bitcoin Trust

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Leading investment bank Morgan Stanley has once again deepened its crypto bet through Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. The mega-bank had been invested in crypto through the trust for some time now through various funds. In a recent SEC filing, the bank revealed that it had significantly increased its holdings in the trust over the summer. When it seemed like the wider market was panicking over low prices, the wealth management company had filled its bags.

In a tweet from MacroScope, it was pointed out that the mega-bank not only deepened its bet, but widened it through exposure to bitcoin by spreading the holdings over additional funds.

Related reading | El Salvador to Build First Bitcoin City Using Tokenized Bitcoin Bonds

The largest Morgan Stanley funds with stakes in the Bitcoin Trust have seen an increase that has driven their stakes to millions. The numbers show that each of the top three funds increased their holdings in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust by at least 50%.

The Growth Portfolio saw the largest share addition as over one million shares were added over a three month period. From June 30 to September 30, the holdings of each fund are as follows;

The growth portfolio went from 2,130,153 shares to 3,642,118 shares. Insight Fund increased its holdings from 928,051 shares to 1,520,549 shares. While the Global Opportunity fund now has 1,463,714 shares, up more than 500,000 shares from its number of 919,805 at the end of June.

These funds help the wealth manager provide crypto exposure to their clients without having to actually hold bitcoin on their balance sheets. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust also claims investments from leading investment firms such as Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest.

Bitcoin trending at $ 57,000 | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com Morgan Stanley is positively considering Bitcoin

Morgan Stanley has always been asset class pro when it comes to major US banks. In March 2021, the bank became the first major U.S. bank to offer bitcoin exposure to its clients. It has given its clients a way to access the burgeoning crypto industry via bitcoin funds, although the service is restricted to the wealth manager’s high net worth clients.

Related reading | Bitcoin leads the market as entries show an increase from the previous week

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman shared positive views on the cryptocurrency market last month. During an earnings call, Gorman explained that he didn’t think crypto and by extension bitcoin was a fad, saying “I don’t think it’s going to go away.”

This was in contrast to big bank boss James Dimon who had expressed that he thought Bitcoin was worthless. However, JPMorgan, of which Dimon is the CEO, is said to give its clients “as clean as possible access”, explaining that its clients were adults who could make their own decisions.

Featured image from Nairametrics, chart from TradingView.com

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