According to CoinDesk, Morgan Stanley held approximately $270 million in Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) as of March 31. The investments were likely made on behalf of clients, rather than a direct bet on bitcoin by the bank itself. The information was revealed in a 13F filing.
Other banking giants, including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and UBS, also reported holdings in spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds during the first quarter. However, these purchases do not necessarily reflect the banks' perspectives on the future price of bitcoin. Instead, they were likely made on behalf of the banks' wealth management clients or were necessary for market making and/or ETF authorized participant duties.
Morgan Stanley began offering spot bitcoin ETF allocations to its clients shortly after their approval in January. However, these were only available on an unsolicited basis, meaning that the client had to propose the investment to the broker.
