Morgan Stanley Holds Nearly $270M Worth Of Grayscale's Spot Bitcoin ETF

Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley disclosed investments worth millions in Grayscale's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), GBTC, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In its 13-F filing, Morgan Stanley revealed that it holds 4,269,361 shares of Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETF, worth some $269.9 million based on current BTC prices. The filing was made last week, but the cryptocurrency industry only started getting wind of the news over the weekend.

The New York City-based investment banking titan is joining several other traditional financial institutions in revealing Bitcoin ETF holdings, but Morgan Stanley's disclosure is particularly big news in the crypto sector, given how the bank invested in a previously unpopular fund.

Compared to BlackRock's IBIT, which has logged some of the Bitcoin subsector's largest inflow milestones since spot BTC ETFs were approved in January, Grayscale's fund has seen significant outflows in the first quarter of 2024. Some analysts have said this could be due to the fund's high transaction charges.

However, Grayscale's GBTC appears to have gradually regained ground as other financial institutions that disclosed their Bitcoin ETF holdings also had some GBTC shares.

Probably the largest BTC ETF reveal was that of market maker Susquehanna International Group (SIG), which disclosed that it holds a billion worth of the emerging Bitcoin products. Notably, Susquehanna also has massive GBTC holdings, over 17 million shares worth a little more than $1 billion.

However, investment management firm Millennium Management trumped all other recent disclosures as it revealed in its 13-F filing last week that it holds some $2 billion worth of spot Bitcoin ETFs – over $202 million of which is on Grayscale's GBTC.

News of Morgan Stanley's Bitcoin ETF holdings came after a report revealed that the banking behemoth was considering to allow its brokers to recommend the funds to clients. The bank was among several others that made spot BTC ETFs available on an unsolicited basis since their January approval.

In March, it was also reported that Morgan Stanley was considering whether Bitcoin ETFs should be introduced as an additional product to its brokerage platform. The bank had reportedly been assessing the said offering since January.

Meanwhile, the SEC is under pressure to also approve spot Bitcoin ETF options, with Representatives Mike Flood, R-Neb., and Wiley Nickel, D-N.C., saying the Wall Street regulator shouldn't discriminate against recently launched funds.