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Morgan Stanley Evaluating Spot Bitcoin ETFs for Its Giant Brokerage Platform: Sources
Since spot bitcoin ETFs went live in January, chatter has increased about the imminent arrival of the big registered investment advisor (RIA) networks and broker-dealer platforms.
- Morgan Stanley is deciding whether to offer spot bitcoin ETFs to customers of its large brokerage platform.
- The arrival of broker-dealers like Morgan Stanley as well as large registered investment advisor (RIA) networks could bring more investment into the new products.
Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley is in the midst of performing due diligence to add spot bitcoin ETF products to its brokerage platform, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
One of the people said Morgan Stanley, which is among the largest U.S. broker-dealer platforms, has been evaluating offering spot bitcoin ETFs to clients since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved their introduction in the U.S. in January.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
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Although billions of dollars have already been invested in these products, the investment floodgates might not open until the bitcoin ETFs are offered by big registered investment advisor (RIA) networks and broker-dealers platforms such as those attached to firms like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and others.
There are 10 spot bitcoin ETFs now trading in the U.S. The ones with the most assets are Grayscale's GBTC, BlackRock's IBIT and Fidelity's FBTC. It’s not clear which ones Morgan Stanley is looking to offer to its clients.
Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
Read more: UBS and Citi Will Let Some Customers Trade Bitcoin ETFs, Contrary to Rumors
Morgan Stanley, a leader in the alternative investments and private market space with over $150 billion in assets under management, was the first major U.S. bank to offer its wealthy clients access to bitcoin funds in 2021. The bank confirmed during its first-quarter earnings call in April 2021 that it was offering its wealth management clients exposure to bitcoin via a pair of external crypto funds.
The wealth management firm’s former CFO, Jonathan Pruzan, said at the time that the bank was allowing qualified investors to gain access to two passive funds. It is understood that these funds were offered by Galaxy Digital and NYDIG.
“As we see more interest, we’ll work with regulators to provide services we think are appropriate,” Pruzan said three years ago.
Ian Allison
Ian Allison is a senior reporter at CoinDesk, focused on institutional and enterprise adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Prior to that, he covered fintech for the International Business Times in London and Newsweek online. He won the State Street Data and Innovation journalist of the year award in 2017, and was runner up the following year. He also earned CoinDesk an honourable mention in the 2020 SABEW Best in Business awards. His November 2022 FTX scoop, which brought down the exchange and its boss Sam Bankman-Fried, won a Polk award, Loeb award and New York Press Club award. Ian graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He holds ETH.
Will Canny
Will Canny is an experienced market reporter with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. He's now covering the crypto beat as a finance reporter at CoinDesk. He owns more than $1,000 of SOL.
