Morgan Stanley Increases Bitcoin Exposure, Holds $300 Million in GBTC Shares

The investment fund of major U.S. investment bank Morgan Stanley has increased its investment in Bitcoin by buying shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

The Morgan Stanley Insight Fund increased its holdings of GBTC by more than 63%, from 928,051 shares in the second quarter of 2021 to 1,52,549 shares as of Sept. 30, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday. . Additionally, the company's Growth Portfolio filing shows that it held 3,642,118 GBTC shares in the third quarter of 2021, a 71% increase from 2,130,153 shares in the second quarter. Morgan Stanley's Global Opportunity Portfolio holds 1,463,714 GBTC shares, a 59% increase from 919,805 shares in three months.

As of this writing, GBTC is priced at $45.72, which gives the investment bank roughly $303 million in bitcoin exposure across the three funds, with 6,626,381 shares held as of Sept. 30. Bitcoin traded below $50,000 for most of September, but the crypto asset has since hit an all-time high of $69,000 before falling back to around $56,000.

The individual portfolios and funds allow Morgan Stanley to gain exposure to Bitcoin without directly investing in the cryptocurrency. The firm’s European Opportunity Fund, which invests in established and emerging companies across Europe, has more than doubled its GBTC holdings since April, Cointelegraph reported in September. However, as of the time of writing, the fund has not reported additional BTC exposure.

Morgan Stanley appears to be getting deeper into the cryptocurrency space, whether through its indirect investment in Grayscale or through its support for blockchain platforms. In September, the firm announced that it would launch a research division focused on cryptocurrencies, with the aim of exploring "the growing importance of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets in global markets."

Cointelegraph Chinese is a blockchain news information platform, and the information provided only represents the author's personal opinion, has nothing to do with the position of the Cointelegraph Chinese platform, and does not constitute any investment and financial advice. Readers are requested to establish correct currency concepts and investment concepts, and earnestly raise risk awareness.