Morgan Stanley, a major U.S. investment bank, disclosed holding approximately $188 million in shares of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF as of June 30. This was revealed in an SEC filing on August 14, showing the firm owned over 5.5 million shares in the second quarter of 2024.
The bank also reported smaller investments in other crypto-related funds, including Valkyrie’s ETF Trust, Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, Bitcoin Depot, Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, and ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF. These holdings were made before Morgan Stanley announced that its advisors could recommend Bitcoin ETFs to clients, specifically highlighting IBIT and FBTC.
Besides the BlackRock investment, Morgan Stanley held around $148,000 in Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust and $1.6 million in the Ark21Shares Bitcoin ETF. Goldman Sachs also reported exposure to over $238 million in IBIT and other ETFs.
Earlier filings revealed Millennium Management had $2 billion in five crypto ETFs, while state pension and retirement funds from Wisconsin and Michigan have invested in cryptocurrency-linked ETFs.
