American bank Morgan Stanley will allow clients to buy Bitcoin on an indirect basis. While not the first major bank to allow bitcoin-linked investments, Morgan Stanley is joining numerous other banks in offering investment products in crypto.
According to a filing with the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), Morgan Stanley, the American investment bank and financial services provider reportedly bought 28,289 shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
At an estimated price of $29.25 per share, Morgan Stanley’s GBTC investment is currently worth a little over $827,000.
Morgan Stanley is Open for Bitcoin Investment
A not long ago, the giant bank announced some of its funds could indirectly invest up to 25% of their individual total assets under management in Bitcoin.
The funds are listed including the Institutional Fund, the Institutional Fund Trust, the Insight Fund, and the Variable Insurance Fund. Also, the investments would be conducted through Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust and cash-settled futures contracts.
According to the bank, the acquisition is a move in response to growing demand from its clients.
By increasing investment in the cryptocurrency market, Morgan Stanley joins a number of US investment banks that offer Bitcoin-linked investments.
More Money Flowing into Blockchain
Recently, Morgan Stanley and Blockchain Capital were reported to lead a $48 million Series B funding round for the blockchain firm Securitize, which offers asset tokenization services.
With this investment, the giant bank made its first venture capital investment in the blockchain technology-based industry.
Founded in 2013 by Digital Currency Group (DCG), GBTC is to provide partial and insured exposure to bitcoin to the firm’s clients, which is a factor in order to encourage many institutions to invest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
GBTC’s accumulative bitcoin reserve is 649,130, representing 3% of the total circulating supply of Bitcoin. As of June 2021, its total assets under management (AUM) stood at $22.4 Billion.
The trust has 98 institutional owners and shareholders, who collectively hold 25,333,581 shares.
