Morgan Stanley is the first major US bank to offer its clients the direct purchase of shares in funds that allow them to take a position on Bitcoin.
This was revealed by CNBC, citing an internal memo from the bank to its financial advisers.
In the memo, Morgan Stanley explicitly tells its financial advisers that it will soon launch access to three funds invested in bitcoin, two of which come from Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz‘s crypto company, while the third is from FS Investments and NYDIG.
Bitcoin investments allowed by Morgan Stanley
However, for now, the bank will only allow its wealthiest customers access to these funds, i.e. those with at least $2 million in assets on deposit because it considers bitcoin an asset only suitable for people with “an aggressive risk tolerance”. It will also only allow investments in bitcoin up to 2.5% of the total net worth of individual clients.
For example, the Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP and the FS NYDIG Select Fund require a minimum investment of $25,000, while the Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund LP requires a minimum of $5 million.
Morgan Stanley is a full-scale asset management giant, with $4 trillion in AUM, and this could be a very significant step towards the acceptance of bitcoin as an asset class. According to CNBC, the decision was made by the bank after its own clients requested exposure to bitcoin.
The bank’s clients are likely to be able to start making these types of investments as early as next month after financial advisers complete training courses related to these new offerings.
The famous crypto influencer Anthony Pompliano commented by saying:
“Bitcoin is inevitable”.
