The first major Wall Street bank to enter Bitcoin, Morgan Stanley will provide Bitcoin funds for high net worth clients

Source: Cailianshe

Author: Wu Bin

As Bitcoin acceptance grows, even major Wall Street banks are getting into Bitcoin. Morgan Stanley will become the first major U.S. bank to offer Bitcoin funds to its clients.

Morgan Stanley told its financial advisers in an internal memo on Wednesday that it will launch three funds that allow investors to hold bitcoin, according to people familiar with the matter. Clients could invest as early as next month after the bank's financial advisers complete training courses related to the new products, the people said.

Two of the three funds are from crypto company Galaxy Digital, and the other is from asset management company FS Investments and Bitcoin company NYDIG. The minimum investment amount for Galaxy Bitcoin Fund LP and FS NYDIG Select Fund is $25,000, while the minimum investment amount for Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund LP is $5 million.

People familiar with the matter explained that Morgan Stanley made the decision after clients asked for exposure to cryptocurrencies, which is also an important step for Wall Street to accept Bitcoin as an asset class. Over the past year, the surge in Bitcoin has put Wall Street companies under pressure to invest in cryptocurrencies.

It is worth noting that the current investment threshold is quite high. Morgan Stanley only allows high-net-worth clients to hold Bitcoin. It believes that Bitcoin is suitable for clients with strong risk tolerance and the assets under management of the bank must reach at least 2 million US dollars. Investment institutions need at least 5 million US dollars in bank assets to be eligible for Bitcoin investment qualifications. In either case, the customer must have opened an account with the bank for 6 months or more.

In addition, even for qualified U.S. accredited investors, Morgan Stanley limits Bitcoin investment to 2.5% of total net assets.

By the way, Meitu also issued an announcement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on the 17th that its wholly-owned subsidiary Miracle Vision purchased US$28.4 million worth of Ethereum and US$21.6 million worth of Bitcoin on the open market on March 17, 2021. Combined with previously disclosed data, Meitu has purchased approximately US$90 million worth of cryptocurrencies.