A view of the Morgan Stanley offices in Canary Wharf, London, UK
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Morgan Stanley is the first large US bank to offer its wealth management clients access to bitcoin funds, CNBC said exclusively.
The investment bank, a $ 4 trillion asset management giant, told its financial advisers on Wednesday in an internal note that the bank is launching access to three funds that allow ownership of bitcoin, according to acquaintances direct on the problem. .
The move, a significant step toward accepting bitcoin as an asset class, was made by Morgan Stanley after customers asked for exposure to the cryptocurrency, said people, who declined to be identified by sharing details about the bank’s internal communications. Last year’s Bitcoin rally put pressure on Wall Street firms to consider involvement in the new asset class.
But, at least for now, the bank allows its wealthier customers access to the volatile asset: the bank considers it suitable for people with “aggressive risk tolerance” who have assets of at least $ 2 million.
Some restrictions
Investment firms need at least $ 5 million in the bank to qualify for new stakes. In both cases, the accounts must be at least six months old.
And even for those US-accredited investors with brokerage accounts and enough assets to qualify, Morgan Stanley limits investments in bitcoin to 2.5% of their total net worth, people said.
Two of the funds offered are from Galaxy Digital, the cryptographic company founded by Mike Novogratz, while the third is a joint effort of asset manager FS Investments and bitcoin company NYDIG.
Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP and FS NYDIG Select Fund have minimum investments of USD 25,000, while Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund LP has a minimum of USD 5 million.
Customers can make investments from next month, after the bank’s financial advisors will complete training courses related to the new offers, people said.
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America wealth management divisions do not currently allow their advisors to offer direct bitcoin investments.
Earlier this month, JPMorgan filed documents related to a new debt investment related to a cryptocurrency basket such as MicroStrategy, the software company that holds bitcoin on its balance sheet and the payment company Square.