KEY POINTS
- The investment banking giant has reportedly been considering the idea since the SEC's historical move last month
- Wells Fargo confirmed that it offers spot BTC ETFs "for unsolicited purchases"
- Bank of America's Merill Lynch has reportedly been offering spot BTC ETFs for weeks
Financial services behemoth Morgan Stanley is considering whether it should issue spot BTC ETFs as an additional product to its brokerage platform, Coindesk reported Thursday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.
The investment banking giant may join the list of firms looking to get a bite out of the success of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which was approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month.
One of the people said Morgan Stanley had actually been evaluating the possibility since the SEC's historical move in January when the regulatory agency granted approval for 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs from prominent financial institutions.
Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to International Business Times' request for comment.
Since the U.S. financial regulator approved the introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs, 10 have started trading in the United States, including Grayscale's GBTC, Fidelity's FBTC, and BlackRock's IBIT – the three with the most assets so far. It is unclear which ones Morgan Stanley is looking to offer.
CNBC first reported in March 2021 that Morgan Stanley became the first major American bank to offer access to Bitcoin funds. Two of the funds are from crypto firm Galaxy Digital, while the third was a collaborative effort from Bitcoin company NYDIG and asset management firm FS Investments, as per the report.
Morgan Stanley confirmed its offering about a month later, with the bank's CFO Jonathan Pruzan indicating that the investment banking titan may offer more cryptocurrency services if its clients signaled more interest in digital assets.
The financial services giant was also among the participants in the Bitcoin firm NYDIG's late 2021 funding round in which the entity raised $1 billion.
News of Morgan Stanley's supposed consideration of spot BTC ETFs came at around the same time when reports emerged about Wells Fargo and Bank of America's investment banking arm Merill Lynch offering the spot BTC ETFs to eligible wealth management clients.
The ETFs have been made available to Merill Lynch clients for several weeks now, a source familiar with Bank of America's plans told Reuters Thursday.
"Spot bitcoin ETFs are available for unsolicited purchases through an advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors or through our online WellsTrade platform," the financial services company told the outlet via email.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues its rally as the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency on Wednesday breached the $60,000-mark for the first time in more than two years. Its all-time high was struck in November 2021, when it hit $68,991, which some analysts believe could now be within reach.
