Morgan Stanley Europe Opportunity Fund Reports Doubling Bitcoin Holdings

The $4 trillion asset manager is one of many large financial institutions, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, seeking to meet client demand for exposure to the digital asset class.

by Morgan Chittum /

September 27, 2021 12:19 pm

Source: Shutterstock

MS institutional portfolio reported holding 28,289 Grayscale BTC (GBTC) shares earlier this year
Morgan’s Insight Fund reportedly has the largest amount of GBTC, holding 928,051 shares (about $36 million) as of June.

Morgan Stanley Europe Opportunity Fund reported holding 58,116 shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) as of July 31, according to an SEC filing on Monday. Earlier this year, the fund reported holding 28,289 shares.

Newsletter

Subscribe to The Breakdown

The filings reveal that Morgan Stanley has owned sizable amounts of GBTC across multiple institutional portfolios. Morgan’s Insight Fund reportedly has the largest amount, holding 928,051 shares, equivalent to roughly $31 million, as of June.

Loading Tweet..

This isn’t the $4 trillion-asset manager’s first foray into crypto. The news comes after Morgan Stanley confirmed in April that it was offering clients exposure to bitcoin and previously announced that it was one of the participating investors in NYDIG’s $200 million fundraising round.

Morgan Stanley is one of many financial institutions seeking to meet client demand for exposure to the digital asset class, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock, to name a few.

Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to Blockworks’ request for comment.

Tags

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Digital Asset Summit 2026

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

buy tickets learn more

recent research

Research

Kinetiq Protocol: From LST Infrastructure to HIP-3 Deployer

Kinetiq has established itself as Hyperliquid's dominant liquid staking protocol, holding 82.5% of LST market share with $610M in TVL. The protocol is now expanding beyond its kHYPE staking core into higher take-rate verticals: iHYPE for institutional custody rails, Launch for HIP-3 capital formation, and Markets for builder-deployed perpetuals. We view Markets, launching Jan. 12, as the highest-potential product line given its mechanically scalable, activity-linked unit economics. Near-term revenue remains anchored by kHYPE's KIP-2 fee schedule (~$1.6M annualized), while Markets provides embedded optionality if HIP-3 economics normalize post-Growth Mode. KNTQ's setup is relatively clean: zero insider unlocks until November 2026, 6.2% buyback yield from staking revenue, and cleared airdrop overhang. Risks center on unproven Markets execution, declining kHYPE TVL despite ongoing incentives, and competition from Hyperliquid's native initiatives.

by Shaunda Devens