A view of Morgan Stanley’s offices in Canary Wharf, London, UK
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Morgan Stanley is the first major U.S. bank to offer its wealth management clients access to bitcoin funds, CNBC reported exclusively.
The investment bank, a $ 4 trillion wealth management giant in client assets, told financial advisers on Wednesday in an internal note that the bank will launch access to three funds that allow Bitcoin ownership, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. .
The move, a significant step toward accepting Bitcoin as an asset class, was made by Morgan Stanley after customers demanded exposure to the cryptocurrency, people said, who refused to identify themselves. sharing details about the bank’s internal communications. The concentration of Bitcoin over the past year has put pressure on Wall Street companies to consider participating in the nascent asset class.
But, at least for now, the bank only allows its wealthiest customers access to volatile assets: the bank considers it suitable for people with “aggressive risk tolerance” who have at least $ 2 million in assets. the company.
Some restrictions
Investment firms need at least $ 5 million in the bank to qualify for new holdings. In either case, the accounts must be at least six months old.
And even for those U.S.-accredited investors who have brokerage accounts and enough assets to qualify, Morgan Stanley limits investments in bitcoins to 2.5% of its total net worth, people said.
Two of the funds offered are from Galaxy Digital, the crypto firm founded by Mike Novogratz, while the third is a joint effort by asset manager FS Investments and bitcoin company NYDIG.
The Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP and FS NYDIG Select Fund have minimum investments of $ 25,000, while the Institutional Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP has a minimum of $ 5 million.
It is likely that customers will be able to make investments as early as next month, after the bank’s financial advisers complete training courses related to the new offerings, people said.
The wealth management divisions of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America do not currently allow their advisors to offer investments in bitcoins.
Earlier this month, JPMorgan filed documents related to a new debt investment tied to a basket of cryptocurrency-related stocks, such as MicroStrategy, the software company that keeps Bitcoin on its balance sheet. However, this investment has not yet been approved by regulators.