In a first for the financial world, Morgan Stanley will be offering Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) consisting of cryptocurrency. This will
ETFs are similar to Mutual Funds, offering a basket of securities to mitigate risk. Rather than directly owning stocks, commodities, and now cryptocurrency, investors can simply buy the fund and benefit from the investment class. CNBC says:
Morgan Stanley on Friday told its army of financial advisors that it will soon allow them to offer bitcoin ETFs to some clients, a first among major Wall Street banks, CNBC has learned.
The firm’s 15,000 or so financial advisors can solicit eligible clients to purchase shares of two exchange-traded bitcoin funds starting Wednesday, according to people with knowledge of the policy.
Owning cryptocurrency can be technologically challenging for people. If held in a digital wallet, cryptocurrency does not benefit from fraud protection which has led to many instances of lost funds. Bitcoin Magazine continues:
Other major banks, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo, continue to restrict their advisors from pitching bitcoin ETFs unless clients explicitly request them, the report stated.
This decision marks a significant step towards institutional adoption of bitcoin in traditional finance. Morgan Stanley’s offering of these ETFs reflects the growing integration of Bitcoin into mainstream finance and sets a precedent for other wealth management firms to follow.
Bitcoin has become a respected asset class, despite its volatility. Investors should be wary of investing all their money into Bitcoin, which can show huge swings in value. Still, its adoption has led to much growth over time.
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