Today’s released filing with the United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), reveals that the multinational investment bank and financial services company Morgan Stanley holds several shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
The news broke on twitter that the SEC files indicated that over 30 Morgan Stanley funds hold large amounts of GBTC shares. The biggest seems to be Morgan’s Insight Fund with over 928,051 worth around $36 million or over 700 Bitcoin (BTC).
However, the Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund Inc, the Morgan Stanley Institutional Trust, the Morgan Stanley Variable Insurance Fund, and others seem to have large amounts as well.
Back on June 28th, 2021, when Bitcoin was still trading in the low $30,000s, Morgan Stanley disclosed a big position on the GBTC via their Europe Opportunity Fund. The bank owned 28,298 shares. The investment was valued at $1,3 million, relatively small compared with today’s filings.
At that moment, MacroScope predicted that the bank would disclose exposition to Bitcoin via an investment product.
In SEC filings, Morgan Stanley has just reported owning a large amount of Grayscale Bitcoin across multiple portfolios.
The largest of these appears to be 928,051 shares held by Morgan's Insight Fund.
These are major disclosures.
Link to all filings:https://t.co/Vi4iiBa5J5 pic.twitter.com/FZfU8qS0TX
— MacroScope (@MacroScope17) August 25, 2021
A few months before, the banking giant became the first U.S.-based financial institution to offers its clients exposition to Bitcoin funds. With over $4 trillion in assets under management (AUM), the bank has been doubling down on the crypto industry seems that moment.
In addition to its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust large position, Morgan Stanley has been investing in crypto-based companies. In April, the bank added more BTC exposition via 12 investment vehicles.
Also, the bank was a major investor in a crypto company supported by Coinbase. Morgan Stanley led a $48 million Series B funding of blockchain-based platform Securitize.
Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, every major bank in the U.S. seems to want to expand their Bitcoin exposition via different investments.
Popular crypto exchange Coinbase has benefited from this interest as JP Morgan and other major players purchased large quantities of its shares.
Today’s filing by Morgan Stanley could trigger a new wave of adoption, similar to the one that took BTC’s price into uncharted territory at the beginning of 2021.
