Morgan Stanley Bank introduced the possibility of investing in cryptocurrency
Investment bank Morgan Stanley plans to expand the use of bitcoin funds. However, they will be available only to a certain category of clients, and the limit on investments of cryptocurrency assets will be 2.5% of capital. A number of investors have already taken advantage of such a service from the bank.
It should be noted that Morgan Stanley was the first among U.S. financial companies to make it possible to invest in bitcoin. Now there are three funds available for this, which can be used by investors whose assets exceed $2 million. In addition, the service can be used by companies that have $5 million in assets.
Morgan Stanley manages a total of $4 trillion in capital for its clients. The bank decided to open access to cryptocurrency assets after requests from their depositors, but this feature is only available to large customers who opened an account with the bank more than 6 months ago. In addition, only private investors with extensive experience have the right to invest in bitcoin funds. At the same time, the amount of investments in cryptocurrency must not exceed 2.5% of their capital.
Two funds, Galaxy Institutional Bitcoin Fund and Galaxy Bitcoin Fund, which are available to investors, are owned by billionaire Mike Novogratz, and the third is a joint project of two companies – FS Investments and NYDIG, and is called FS NYDIG Select Fund. The minimum size of investments in the first two funds is 5 million dollars and 25 thousand dollars respectively, in the third – also 25 thousand dollars. Investing in crypto funds implies first training for financial advisers. Specialists must understand all the nuances of asset management with cryptocurrency.
Experts assume that Morgan Stanley and other investment banks will open this service for their clients. For example, Bank of America recently presented its report, which evaluated the use of bitcoin and its prospects. In addition, the experts of the corporation spoke about the peculiarities of the cryptocurrency as a financial asset. As a result of the report, the analysts noted that bitcoin, which is used as a payment instrument or an option for savings, does not carry any advantages. The fact is that its value does not depend on the level of inflation and has a high volatility. In addition, Bank of America specialists paid attention to the environmental component of the production of cryptocurrencies. To generate the asset, equivalent of $1 billion, as much carbon is emitted into the environment as the use of 1.2 million cars. Therefore, for now, Bank of America does not see any prospects for investing in bitcoins.
