Morgan Stanley Discloses $272 Million in Bitcoin ETF Holdings

For the second quarter running, the asset manager of Morgan Stanley, $1.3 trillion, reported exposure to US Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds.

In a 13F-HR/A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Morgan Stanley disclosed it holds $272 million worth of the Bitcoin investment vehicle as of the end of the third quarter. Notably, this was a mere 0.02% of the asset manager’s $1.3 trillion holdings.

Meanwhile, a chunk of the funds were invested in the BlackRock iShare Bitcoin Trust (IBIT). Morgan Stanley revealed it owns 5.5 million shares purchased in the second quarter.

The shares’ value was $187.7 million at the time of purchase. However, it has surged to $209 million over the last quarter, accounting for a 10.2% increment.

Furthermore, Morgan Stanley disclosed that it held on to its investments in the Ark 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) but significantly reduced its exposure to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The filing revealed that it lowered its GBTC shares from $270 million to $148,000.

Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF Exposure

Notably, Morgan Stanley is one of the crypto-friendly asset managers in the US. Recently, the investment bank announced it has allowed its financial advisors to pitch Bitcoin ETFs to its clients.

The move is massive, considering the bank’s voluminous asset holdings. For instance, if the asset manager allocates a mere 1% of its assets to Bitcoin spot ETFs, the products will see an inflow of $130 billion.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley’s exposure to Bitcoin ETFs reflects the manner of institutional presence the products would attract to the crypto market. Notably, banking giant Goldman Sachs also holds Bitcoin ETFs in its portfolio.

To this end, analyst Kripto Mevsimi noted that the launch of the spot ETFs has transformed Bitcoin into a more mature asset. He stated that the largest crypto asset by market cap is outgrowing its teenage years and is becoming an integral member of the global financial market.

Bitcoin ETFs’ Renewed Traction

Inflows into the US Bitcoin spot ETFs maintained peak performance on Thursday, following four consecutive days of substantial positive net flows. Issuers bought $470.48 million worth of Bitcoin yesterday, improving from the Wednesday inflows.

As expected, IBIT led inflows, commanding an influx of $309 million. ARKB also had an impressive outing, recording a single-day positive flow worth $100.2 million.

GBTC maintained its positive run, raking in $45.7 million yesterday. Interestingly, the fund has not recorded an outflow for four consecutive days. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) also bought $11.7 million worth of Bitcoin on Thursday.

With the inflow, the Bitcoin spot ETFs have seen an inflow of $2.1 billion in the past five days. Their cumulative net inflow also surged past $20 billion for the first time in history.