Morgan Stanley becomes the first big U.S. bank to offer its wealth management clients access to bitcoin funds
United States, March 17, 2021 /AlexaBlockchain/ – Morgan Stanley has decided to offer bitcoin funds to ‘qualified clients’ after its wealth management clients demanded exposure to the cryptocurrency. Morgan Stanley alerted its wealth management advisors Wednesday that the Wall Street giant will begin offering access to bitcoin-related fund to accredited wealth management clients.
- The investment bank is launching access to three funds that enable ownership of bitcoin.
- Two of the funds on offer are from Galaxy Digital, a crypto firm founded by Mike Novogratz, while the third is a joint effort from asset manager FS Investments and bitcoin company NYDIG.
- Bitcoin funds will be offered to ‘qualified clients’. The bank considers it suitable for people with “an aggressive risk tolerance” who have at least $2 million in assets held by the firm.
- Investment firms need at least $5 million at the bank to qualify for the new stakes.
This news comes more than a month after Bloomberg News reported that Counterpoint Global, a unit of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, is weighing whether Bitcoin would be a suitable option for its investors.
Morgan Stanley manages $5.4 trillion of client assets across its Wealth Management and Investment Management segments.