Morgan Stanley Files for Bitcoin Exposure in 12 Funds

Some funds will have indirect bitcoin exposure through cash settled futures or investments in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, while others might have no exposure to bitcoin.

by Tanaya Macheel /

April 1, 2021 10:42 am

Source: Shutterstock

key takeaways

Each fund will be able to invest up to 25% of assets in bitcoin products
Two weeks ago it began offering two funds from Galaxy Digital and another joint effort between FS Investments and NYDIG

On Thursday Morgan Stanley filed for bitcoin exposure in several of its institutionally focused funds.

Some funds will have indirect bitcoin exposure through cash settled futures or investments in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, the privately offered investment vehicle that invests in bitcoin. Sometimes a fund might have no exposure to bitcoin.

Each fund will be able to invest up to 25% of its assets in bitcoin products.

Among the 12 funds is Counterpoint Global, the $150 billion unit of Morgan Stanley Investment Management managed by Dennis Lynch, which was first reported to be considering investing in bitcoin in February.

The $4 trillion-asset Morgan Stanley has come out extremely bullish on bitcoin this year. Two weeks ago it began offering three funds (two from Galaxy Digital and another joint effort between FS Investments and NYDIG) to give its wealthy clients exposure to bitcoin, becoming the first major bank to do so.

It was also an investor in NYDIG’s recent $200 million fund raise and in January it boosted its stake in MicroStrategy (which continues to buy bitcoin) by about 650,000 shares, as the price of bitcoin broke $40,000 for the first time.

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