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Morgan Stanley CEO Says Crypto Isn’t a Fad, Though Not Seeing Much Client Demand

“For us, honestly it’s just not a huge part of the business,” CEO James Gorman said on the bank’s earnings call.

Updated May 11, 2023, 4:07 p.m. Published Oct 14, 2021, 7:47 p.m.

James Gorman, chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said that cryptocurrency isn’t a fad and it’s not going away, though he said his bank is not seeing much client demand.

“I don’t think crypto’s a fad, I don’t think it’s going away,” Gorman said on the bank’s third-quarter earnings call. “I don’t know what the value of bitcoin should or shouldn’t be, but these things aren’t going away and the blockchain technology supporting it is obviously very real and powerful.”
Morgan Stanley isn’t directly trading crypto for retail clients, though it does offer investors ways to buy crypto through various funds, Gorman explained.
Morgan Stanley confirmed in April that it’s offering wealth management clients exposure to bitcoin by way of a pair of external crypto funds.
“For us, honestly it’s just not a huge part of the business demand for our clients,” Gorman added. “That may evolve and will evolve with it, but certainly it’s not what’s driving our economics one way or the other.”
Gorman’s comments come after JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon earlier this week called bitcoin “worthless.” In the past, Dimon has called bitcoin a “fraud” and “fool’s gold.”

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Josh Fineman

Josh Fineman is CoinDesk's Senior Wall Street Reporter, covering the intersection of crypto and traditional finance. He doesn't own any substantial amount of crypto.